


Fame and Fortune

by AlliAnnLopes



Series: Fame and Fortune [1]
Category: Alvin and the Chipmunks - All Media Types, High School Story (Video Game), Hollywood U: Rising Star
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-02 13:57:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4062547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlliAnnLopes/pseuds/AlliAnnLopes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thomas Hunt does not have a fond taste for children. Nor does he think highly of teenagers. But when Briar-Snowcrest Academy takes a school trip to Hollywood for a semester trip to the sunshine state, this Hollywood U professor is in for a very rude awakening. Not to mention - his cousin Dave is back in town with six… familiar kids of his own, and they have to stay in Thomas’ apartment for the entire semester. Chaos ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Brand New Start

 

> **One track mind, one track heart**   
>  **If I fail, I'll fall apart**   
>  **Maybe it is all a test**   
>  **‘Cause I feel like I'm the worst**   
>  **So I always act like I'm the best**   
>  **…**   
>  **I know exactly what I want and who I want to be**   
>  **I know exactly why I walk and talk like a machine**   
>  **I'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy**

~ “Oh No!”, Marina and the Diamonds

“I can’t believe we’re on our way back to California,” thirteen-year-old Jeanette Miller says in amazement as she and her ‘sisters’ board a private jet in New York City.

“Heck yeah we are!” Alvin Seville replies, he and his ‘brothers’ boarding behind them and sitting on a leather couch. He gestures to his friends as they get on the private jet with them. “Not to mention that we get to go as a class for a summer trip!”

Brittany, Jeanette’s older ‘sister’, folds her arms and makes a dreamy expression. “Hollywood, here we come!”

Dave looks to the collective group as they all sit down. “Behave yourselves.” He heads into the area right by the cockpit.

“Oh, we will,” Simon, Alvin’s younger ‘brother’ replies as he gives a stern and icy stare to the older chipmunk. “I’ll make absolute sure of it.”

 

* * *

 

Thomas Hunt was **not** ready for the upcoming semester.

He had gotten one of the **only** classes this semester that had to be a co-adjoint class - meaning that he not only had to deal with the regular bunch of twenty-somethings and legal teens that wanted to be famous, but he had to deal with **high school students**.

If there was possibly a semester that was going to be the death of him, this was it.

Thomas is hunched over a desk, looking over his student roster for the incoming semester when his cell phone rings.

“Odd...” Thomas says out loud. “No one ever calls me on my cell phone unless it’s-” He reads the caller identification: Dave.

 _No wonder why_ , Thomas thinks. _Family_.

Thomas swipes to answer the call. “Hello?”

“Hi, Thomas,” Dave says on the other line. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it...?”

“Yes, it certainly has,” Thomas replies, standing up from his desk chair. “How have you been?”

Dave sighs as he flips through a magazine. “Not bad. And yourself?”

Thomas shrugs as he turns on the television and pours himself a glass of scotch. “I could be better.”

“In that case, I have some good news for you.”

Swallowing the sip of scotch he took, Thomas made a confused face. “Oh? What kind of good news?”

Dave lets out a nervous chuckle. “I’m on my way back to town from New York City.”

Thomas’s eyes widen. “You’re joking!”

“Oh, this is no joke,” Dave replies. “I’m on a private jet back to Hollywood as we speak.”

“Why are you coming back?” Thomas asks without even thinking.

Dave chuckles again. “Funny you should mention that...”

Thomas furrows his eyebrows after downing his drink. “What do you mean by that...?”

“Well, I’m not sure if you remember or not, Thomas, but... I have kids, and-”

On the other line, Thomas hears a muffled “Alvin...” in a higher squeaky voice that can’t possibly be Dave’s.

Dave sighs. “Sorry... I have to take care of this. Give me a minute.”

Thomas nods in understanding. “Of course. Take your time.” He hears a muffled conversation between Dave and yet another voice - this one different than the one that interrupted the conversation.

He focuses his attention on the television, which is currently on a TMZ-like program. Pictures of Dave and the Chipmunks slideshow on the screen, and Thomas stops himself.

_Wait a second..._

A long “AAALLLVIIINNN!!!” can be heard from the other line of the phone.

The only thought that can enter Thomas’s mind is:

_Oh **fuck**._

 


	2. Introductions

 

> **They're driving fast cars**  
>  **But they don't know where they're going  
>  ** **In the fast lane  
>  ** **Living life without knowing**

~ “Cool Kids”, Echosmith

Thomas doesn't remember the rest of the phone conversation with Dave.

What he does remember, however, is getting into his black Cadillac Escalade and starting his way to LAX.

He starts going up Rodeo Drive when he realizes two things:

One – he hasn’t had anything but scotch all morning.

Two – if he’s going to have kids in the car, he should probably change the radio station to something… popular.

He almost dreaded the thought.

Quickly pulling up to the closest Starbucks, Thomas goes in to grab a couple of coffee frappuccinos – screw people saying that it’s a ‘woman’s drink’; they’re damn good – and a few slices of toasted artisan bread.

On his way out, he sees a familiar face – one he recognized as an early acceptance student that went to his community lectures a few times before over the past fall semester. She was the only face he recognized even without her being on his roster.

It’s only then that Thomas notices that she sits down at one of the tables and quickly takes off her brown leather boots, rubbing her feet as she takes calming breaths – as if she were in pain.

Thomas figures checking on her couldn’t hurt.

“Having a little trouble?” Thomas asks as he walks over to the brunette.

She turns up to face him, blinking a moment before nodding. “Y-Yeah, my feet are killing me, and I have to walk another two hours to LAX.”

Thomas raises an eyebrow. “Why are you walking there?”

“I have to meet my family over there, and sadly, my motorcycle is in the shop right now.” She sets her boots down to put her feet back inside them.

A little beside himself, Thomas smiles at the twenty -year-old. “Don’t think I don’t recognize you. You’re the only person that ever snuck into one of my community lectures at eighteen years old.”

The brunette blushes slightly, remembering that day over two years ago now.

“It’s fine.” Thomas puts a comforting hand on her shoulder and gives her a soft smile. “It paid off. You’re in my Hollywood 101 class this upcoming semester.”

Eyes lighting up, the younger woman smiles up at him. “That’s amazing!” She blushes again. “Sorry, just… I’m a really big fan of your work.”

Thomas chuckles. “I can tell. It’s fine, I promise.” He helps her to her feet. “Although… I never happened to catch your name from all the times you snuck into my lectures.”

Adjusting her bag on her body, the young woman smiles. “My name is Amelia, but most everyone calls me Amy.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Amy. Feel free to just call me Thomas, but not during my class, alright?”

Delighted, Amy nods.

Thomas pulls out his keys from his pocket. “I’m actually on my way to LAX right now. Do you want a ride?”

Amy bites her lip. “I couldn’t… I don’t want to be a burden…”

“You won’t be a burden on me, Amy.” Thomas gave her a soft smile. “You haven’t been, so why would you possibly be one now?”

The brunette sighs, reassured just a little. “Okay, if you insist… I’ll take the ride.”

Leading Amy to his Cadillac, Thomas opened the front passenger’s side door for her and made sure she was inside before closing it and moving to the driver’s seat.

Amy takes out a small notebook as Thomas quickly starts up the car. “Thank you for the ride. I hope I didn’t delay your arrival by too much.”

Thomas shakes his head as he pulls away from the curb and starts his way down Rodeo Drive again. “It’s no problem, Amy. Honestly.”

“Do you mind if I change the radio station?”

Oh crap, Thomas thinks.

Thomas nods almost immediately. “Yeah, a variety station, if you can.”

Amy smiles. “That’s what I was going for. I can’t listen to new pop for more than an hour.”

I like her already, Thomas thinks after registering her words.

Once Amy changes the station, a familiar song for both of them comes on.

“Damn, I haven’t heard this song in ages,” Amy remarks.

Thomas shakes his head as he drives. “Oh God, me either actually.” He smiles as he hears Amy start to sing along:

 **I am unwritten**   
**Can't read my mind**   
**I'm undefined**   
**I'm just beginning**   
**The pen's in my hand**   
**Ending unplanned**

In a matter of seconds, Thomas finds himself mouthing the words and tapping his fingers to the beat on the steering wheel as he drives.

 **Staring at the blank page before you**   
**Open up the dirty window**   
**Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find**   
**Reaching for something in the distance**   
**So close you can almost taste it**   
**Release your inhibitions**

 **Feel the rain on your skin**   
**No one else can feel it for you**   
**Only you can let it in**   
**No one else, no one else**   
**Can speak the words on your lips**   
**Drench yourself in words unspoken**   
**Live your life with arms wide open**   
**Today is where your book begins**   
**The rest is still unwritten**

Thomas starts to actually sing along when he hears Amy suddenly become quiet, his voice soft.

 **I break tradition**   
**Sometimes my tries**   
**Are outside the lines**   
**We've been conditioned**   
**To not make mistakes**   
**But I can't live that way**

Amy giggles. “There you go,” she says encouragingly before jumping back in to sing along with him.

 **Staring at the blank page before you**   
**Open up the dirty window**   
**Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find**   
**Reaching for something in the distance**   
**So close you can almost taste it**   
**Release your inhibitions**

 **Feel the rain on your skin**   
**No one else can feel it for you**   
**Only you can let it in**   
**No one else, no one else**   
**Can speak the words on your lips**   
**Drench yourself in words unspoken**   
**Live your life with arms wide open**   
**Today is where your book begins**

 **Feel the rain on your skin**   
**No one else can feel it for you**   
**Only you can let it in**   
**No one else, no one else**   
**Can speak the words on your lips**   
**Drench yourself in words unspoken**   
**Live your life with arms wide open**   
**Today is where your book begins**   
**The rest is still unwritten**

Thomas smiles. “You have quite the voice,” he observes as they both decide to let the song finish out on its own. “Better than mine.”

Amy shakes her head. “I wouldn’t say that it’s better than yours… More like a different kind of good than yours is.”

“I…” Thomas chuckles as they pull into the parking lot at LAX. “I think that’s fair.” He exits the car, handing Amy his other frappuccino. “Here, you’ll need this.”

“Thanks.” Amy eagerly takes a sip of the drink as they walk inside.

“So, what terminal do you need to be in front of?”

Amy looks at a note on her phone. “2C, I think.”

“I’ll wait there with you.”

“You don’t have to-“

Thomas gives her a soft but stern look. “I insist.”

Amy holds up her hands defensively in response to him. “Okay, okay. Sorry.”

“Let’s just hope they get here soon."


	3. More than Bargained For

> **I'm not surprised, not everything lasts**   
>  **I've broken my heart so many times I stopped keeping track**   
>  **Talk myself in, I talk myself out**   
>  **I get all worked up then I let myself down**
> 
> ****I tried so very hard not to lose it  
>  I came up with a million excuses   
>  **I thought, I thought of every possibility**
> 
> ****And I know some day that it’ll all turn out  
>  You'll make me work so we can work to work it out   
>  **And I promise you kid that I'll give so much more than I get**   
>  **I just haven't met you yet**

~ “Haven’t Met You Yet”, Michael Bublé

“This is just fucking ridiculous…”

Amy and Thomas had been standing in front of terminal 2C for about half an hour now waiting for Amy’s family to arrive.

“I’m sure they’ll be here any moment,” Thomas replies.

“That’s not necessarily the problem at hand here.” Amy sighs and pulls out her phone again. “This place is even **more** of a zoo than usual, and my family… well, some members of my family are… tiny, to say the least.” She scrolls through the music on her phone and hits shuffle, Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake it Off’ playing on full blast as she smiled brightly. “Ah, much better.” She leans against the window-wall. “And now… we wait.”

Off in the distance, Amy and Thomas hear a set of distinct voices.

“Damn it, Alvin!” one voice – a voice familiar to Thomas as the voice that first interrupted his phone conversation with Dave – yells out. “Don’t stray from the rest of us!”

“Not a chance, tightwad!” a second voice replies.

“G-Guys, please stop fighting…” a third voice timidly speaks just above the bustle of the crowd.

“Wait for us!” three more voices – female this time, in contrast to the first three male voices – all shouted simultaneously.

Amy sighs. “Here we go… I haven’t even **met** them before, but… Good lord am I in trouble…”

Thomas arches an eyebrow in curiosity. “They’re… your relatives, too?”

Nodding, Amy gives Thomas the same look in return. “What do you mean by-“

“AAALLLVIIINNN!!!”

Both of them sigh at the familiar voice that reaches their ears before looking at each other confused again.

Six two-foot-tall chipmunks suddenly skid to a stop right in front of Amy and Thomas.

A tired-looking Dave lags behind them, a middle-aged woman by his side. “Fellas, girls, I told you to wait for- Oh…”

Thomas refrains from saying anything.

"Hi, Dad," Amy eventually says after a moment of awkward silence. "It's nice to finally meet you in person after so long."

Dave nods as Amy walks over to give her father a hug.

Thomas stands there in disbelief, still trying to process that he met his **niece.**

**On accident.**

**_More than two years ago._ **

The older woman by Dave’s side steps over to Thomas. “Oh, Tommy, it’s been so long!” she said with delight in her voice, pinching his cheek.

Slightly irritated, Thomas sighs. “Nice to see you too, Aunt Bea… but **please** don’t call me that anymore.”

Dave chuckles. “Still don’t like being called ‘Tommy’, I see.”

Thomas groans softly. “Not really, no.”

“Wait, **this** sweet thing is Amy?” the red-clad chipmunk asks in amazement. “She’s **way** hotter than those pictures that Alli-“

“Shut it, Alvin,” the blue-clad chipmunk interrupts, roughly elbowing the other in the arm.

Amy looks at her father, confused and still not putting all the pieces together. “Wait a minute – how do you know Thomas Hunt?”

Dave laughs and puts a hand on her shoulder. “We’re cousins, Amy.”

“So…” It suddenly dawned in Amy’s eyes. “Oh **shit** …”

Thomas blinks, still stunned.

Dave laughs again as he looks over at Thomas. “Today is just full of surprises for you, isn’t it?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Thomas replies, shaking his head. “Y-You guys still want to go to stay at that hotel?”

“Well, that was originally the plan. Why?”

Thomas sighs. “If you wanted to save money… and spare me any loneliness for the next semester… you can all stay in my apartment.”

Dave smiles. “Fantastic! Less money spent – right, fellas?”

Four of the six chipmunks nodded. Alvin and Brittany both cross their arms and pout.

"Aw, guys, don't be such sour-pusses," Theodore tells them.

Thomas gestures his hand. "So... Are you going to introduce yourselves or what?"

“Heck yeah, we are!” Alvin responds.

“Oh boy, here we go again…” Brittany groans, rolling her eyes.

Alvin walks ahead so he’s in front of the rest of the group. “Well, **obviously** , I’m Alvin -- the awesomest one!” He looks right at Amy and Thomas. “But you already knew that.”

Thomas gives Amy a look, mouthing, ‘Is this… typical behavior?’

Giving a short shrug, Amy turns to Thomas for a second before turning back to Alvin.

“Simon is the one in blue,” Alvin continues, putting a hand in front of the side of his mouth that Simon can visibly see and whispering, “He’s a bit of a nerd.”

“I heard that, Alvin,” Simon says in reply, crossing his arms.

With a showman’s smile, Alvin pats Theodore on the head. “This is Theodore, the sweet but naïve one.”

“Simon, what does naïve mean?” Theodore asked.

All Simon can do in response is put his head in his hand.

“That’s Brittany,” Alvin continues, pointing to her, “the group’s resident-”

“Do **not** finish that sentence, Alvin,” Dave warns his oldest ‘son’.

“I was going to say fashionista!” Alvin says with fake disbelief. “Please, Dave, get your mind out of the gutter.”

Simon opens his mouth to say something, but he decided against it.

“This is Jeanette,” Alvin continues once again with a grin as the aforementioned Chipette waves shyly at both Amy and Thomas. “She’s a little klutzy, but she’s really nice. And last – but most _certainly_ not least – is little Eleanor here, the sweetest sweetheart of them all.”

“Hi there,” Eleanor says with a wave.

Dave lets out a defeated sigh. “Next time, everyone is introducing themselves.”

Amy smiles softly. “It’s nice to finally meet you guys.”

With a sly grin, Alvin saunters over. “The pleasure is all mi-” His mouth is suddenly covered by two pairs of hands.

“Ours,” Simon interrupts. “The pleasure is **ours**.” He gives a short glare at Alvin.

Amy looks at her watch. “I have to go. My cousin Aphrodite needs me to meet her so we can take some of those other kids back over to the Sheridan Hotel.” She looks at Thomas. “I guess I’ll see you next week… Professor.” She gives him a wink before turning back to the Chipmunks and Chipettes. “It was really awesome finally meeting all of you! I’ll see you guys around, I’m sure.” She gives Dave a quick hug before she walks off.

Dave sighs deeply before he turns to the older woman. “We should go get our cars.”

Thomas gives them a look. “How on **Earth** did you bring your cars with you?”

“Well, the jet **is** big enough for a few cars to fit…” Jeanette answers. “Especially since Dave’s and Miss Miller’s are so small…”

“Do you mind watching the kids for just a minute, Thomas?” Miss Miller – the older woman – asks.

Thomas immediately wants to answer her with ‘Oh **God** no,’ but a) this is a family friend that used to babysit him and Dave for years, so it would break her heart if he said no; and b) it’s only until they get their cars back, which shouldn’t take too long.

“Of course I can watch them, Aunt Bea,” Thomas replies quickly.

Dave nods in satisfaction. “Fellas, girls: listen to your Uncle Thomas, alright? Miss Miller and I will be right back.” He turns away as he slowly leads Miss Miller back to the jet.

Thomas looks at the six chipmunks, who are all staring back up at him with different expressions.

“So…” Alvin says to break the awkward tension, “who are you anyway?”

“And how come we’ve never seen you around before?” Brittany asks.

Thomas sighs, sitting on a bench. “Well, I’m not exactly immediate family to Dave, so I guess that’s why.”

“But that doesn’t answer my question,” Alvin retorts. “Who the hell **are** you?”

Giving another soft sigh, Thomas looks at the oldest chipmunk sternly. “My name is Thomas Hunt. I hold the record as the youngest person to ever be named for _Best Director_ at the Audrey Awards.”

Simon stares up at Thomas in awe. “I thought you were familiar somehow.”

Thomas can’t help but let out a chuckle as he shifts his position on the metal bench. “I see you’re a fan.”

“Are you kidding? _Dark Science_ is one of my favorite movies!”

“What’d I tell you, Uncle Thomas?” Alvin asks. “Simon’s a giant nerd!”

Simon shakes his head. “It’s funny how you don’t know how to insult me, Alvin.”

Thomas forces himself to hold back his laughter as he surveys the group once over to make sure that he still has everyone.

Alvin and Brittany are on their cell phones, Alvin taking obnoxious selfies on the other side of the bench and Brittany playing… was that Tetris?

Simon and Jeanette are sitting on either side of him. Simon has his nose deep in a Sherlock Holmes novel after his excitement has died down a bit, while Jeanette is mid-chapter in The Hunger Games.

Thomas soon notices, however, that Theodore and Eleanor are nowhere to be seen.

He panics internally as he frantically looks for them before Jeanette tugs on his sweater sleeve and points under the bench.

Sure enough, Thomas can see through the mesh of the metal bench that Theodore is cowering under the bench right under him, Eleanor’s arms wrapped around him.

Brittany puts her phone down. “I got this one, Jeanette.” She hops off the bench and coaxes Theodore and Eleanor to come out from under the bench with the premise of food. “I, uh… I promised them food.”

Thomas sighs, looking down at Theodore and Eleanor softly. “There’s a Starbucks on the way out. I’ll see if Dave can have us stop there before we leave, okay?”

Quietly, the two green-clad chipmunks nod, their scared demeanors diminishing.

All of a sudden, the group of seven hears the roar of two car engines. Dave’s 1948 Oldsmobile Series 66 station wagon pulls up, and Thomas chuckles.

“Okay, everyone, Dave and Miss Miller are back,” Thomas tells them as he gestures for the six of them to follow him.

They all head outside, and Thomas realizes that Dave is blasting Queen through the speakers as he exits the car.

“You still drive this piece of crap?” Thomas asks Dave as he circles the car and opens the back car door.

Dave smiles. “Surprised? It needed a lot of work, but it still runs well.”

They turn their heads to see Miss Miller’s 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible quickly pull up behind Dave’s car, blasting Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons over the radio as it almost crashes.

“And I see Aunt Bea still drives like a mad-woman…” Thomas remarks, earning a loud laugh from Dave as she unlocks the door and checks herself in the mirror.

“I was hoping you’d take either the boys or the girls back to your place because of that,” Dave explains.

Thomas nods. “I’ll take the boys. I do **not** want wet nail polish from Brittany all over my leather seats.”

Dave chuckles again and nods in understanding. “Good choice.” He turns behind him. “Fellas, you’re going in Uncle Thomas’s car.”

Alvin groans. “La-ame.”

“You will come with us to his car, and you will **behave** ,” Simon warns him sternly.

Thomas gives a side smile at the sight as he opens the door for them. “Get in.”

Alvin rolls his eyes. “Whatever…” He enters first, Theodore and Simon following after their ‘brother’.

Before he re-enters his car, the only thought in Thomas’ mind is: _Oh **God** , what have I gotten myself into?_


	4. Good to You

 

> **Deception and perfection are wonderful traits**  
>  **One will breed love, the other hate**  
>  **You'll find me in the lonely hearts**  
>  **Under 'I'm after a brand new start'**  
>  **And I don’t belong to anyone**

~ “Homewrecker”, Marina and the Diamonds

“So…” Thomas begins as he opens the door to his apartment, “…this is where I’ve been living for the past couple of years.”

“Thomas…” Dave lets out, “…your place is a mess.”

“Jeez, Uncle Thomas,” Alvin adds. “No wonder you’re lonely.”

Keeping his mouth shut about that comment, Thomas makes sure everyone is inside before he closes the door. “I’ll, um… I’ll start cleaning up in here while you lay ground rules, Dave. I just have one to add before that: no one is allowed in the cabinet right next to the fridge except for me and you.”

Dave gives Thomas a skeptical look as he follows his cousin with his eyes. “If you say so, Thomas… Just make sure that we’ll all have a place to sleep tonight.”

Thomas nods, Alvin’s earlier words still floating around in his head as he puts earbuds in and turns on his iPod.

Sadly, Dave knows the look on Thomas’s face all too well, the memory still etched in his mind from when they were kids. He starts to talk to his kids as Thomas begins to clean.

A few seconds into the lecture, Simon overhears a soft voice singing along to a song.

**Everyone's around**   
**No words are coming now**   
**And I can't find my breath**   
**Can we just say the rest with no sound?**

Simon immediately recognizes the song as one that Alvin and Brittany had covered once before at one of their free choice concerts, keeping one ear focused on Dave and the other on the voice.

The origin of the voice is Thomas, who’s finished cleaning off the floor as much as he possibly can before he starts dusting off a few shelves on the wall, still singing along.

**And I know this isn't enough**   
**I still don't measure up**   
**And I'm not prepared**   
**Sorry is never there when you need it**

Dave takes a shorter time than expected to get the lecture out of his mouth, although he assumes it’s because of the eerie atmosphere in the apartment.

“Come on, everyone,” Dave says quickly. “Let’s go help Miss Miller unpack in the guest room.” He leads everyone – well, almost everyone – into the guest bedroom and shuts the door behind as soon as they all enter.

The only person to stay behind other than Thomas is Simon, who watches Thomas for a few moments, trying to analyze him and see what’s wrong.

**And I do, I want you to know**   
**I’ll hold you up above everyone**   
**And I do want you to know**   
**I think that you'd be good to me**   
**And I'd be so good to you**   
**I would**

Simon quickly moves to the other side of the room, grabbing a duster as he goes to clean the other shelves. _At this rate, he’ll never finish by the end of the song,_ he thinks as he starts mouthing the words while Thomas sings along.

**I thought I saw a sign**   
**Somewhere between the lines**   
**And maybe it's me**   
**Maybe I only see what I want**

After speedily dusting off the rest of the shelves, Simon comes across a few framed photographs that are put face-down on the black wood. Carefully and one by one, he props them back up, revealing pictures of Thomas with a couple different people – six different people, to be exact. The first is a slender Spanish woman, the second is a muscular bodyguard with tattoo sleeves, the third is an Indian woman, the fourth is a petite redhead, the fifth has a pale and boyish look to him, and the sixth is a much younger man. The last three people are not much older than Amy is.

**And I still have your letter**   
**Just got caught between**   
**Someone I just invented**   
**Who I really am**   
**And who I've become**

**And now I do, I want you to know**   
**I’ll hold you up above everyone**   
**And I do, I want you to know**   
**I think that you'd be good to me**   
**And I'd be so good to you**

**Whoa, whoa, whoa**   
**Oh, oh, whoa, oh**

Thomas takes a breath, looking around to see what else of the living room he still has to clean and realizing that someone has been helping him.

**I would**

Simon ducks behind the couch, trying to get out of Thomas’s line of sight as he continues to clean and finishes out the song.

**I do want you to know**   
**I’ll hold you up above everyone**   
**And I do want you to know**   
**I think that you'd be good to me**   
**And I'd be so good to you**

Thomas walks over to the now-upright pictures, taking two and running his finger over the glass.

**I'd be good to you, I'd be good to you**   
**I'd be good to you, I'd be so good to you**

**I'd be good to you, whoa, whoa**   
**Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa**   
**So good to you**

Slowly, Simon looks out from behind the couch, seeing Thomas in a vulnerable state. Biting his lip subtly, he looks up at Thomas and fully steps out from behind the soft couch.

“Which… Which one of them broke your heart?” Simon asks bluntly.

Thomas is easily startled by hearing Simon’s voice, looking down at him after the irregular heartbeat subsides. “Excuse me?”

Simon looks up at Thomas with curious and concerned eyes. “I wondered why you had so many pictures of different people at first that didn’t look like you… but then the only thing that I could think of was they were all… yours at one point.” He lets out a long and deep breath. “They all **did** date you, yes…?”

Nodding, Thomas moves over to sit on the couch, the picture frames still in his hands. “They each did date me at one point, yes.”

“And I’m assuming the ones you’re holding in your hand are the ones that broke your heart the most, correct?” Simon sits next to Thomas and tries to get a good look at the pictures.

Thomas gives Simon another nod. “You’d be half-right.” He sets one of the pictures down on the coffee table, this one of the tanner young man. “He’s the only person that ever broke up with me instead of the other way around.” He places down the other picture, this one of the redhead. "And I... I can't even start to explain how badly I treated her..." He sighs, for a split second wondering why he’s talking to a **thirteen-year-old** about this. “I’m not over either of them. Not at all.”

Simon quickly looks over at the picture before he looks up at Thomas with sympathetic eyes. “Why don’t… Why don’t you talk to them?”

“It’s not quite that easy, Simon,” Thomas answers, his blue-gray eyes darting to the floor as he folds his hands. “There are some things when you get to be an adult… that can’t always be resolved.” He sighs again and closes his eyes. “I might never see them again because if they absolutely hate my guts… they're never coming back to me or to my class.” A tear rolls down his cheek. “Ever…”

"Never say never," Simon responds. "M-Maybe we should change the subject... I've made you too uncomfortable..."

Thomas looks up, wiping the fallen tear from his face before he faces Simon. "Don't be sorry. You were curious. And what kind of professor would I be if I turned away a curious mind?"

Simon gives a soft smile before promptly changing the subject. "You must have a lot of good stories about being a professor, don't you?"

"Not necessarily all of them are 'good' stories... but yes." Thomas lets out a breath as he soon gets an idea. "That reminds me... I have these files of all my incoming students for the semester in my office. Do you think you could organize them for me? I have to start making dinner for you guys but I have to get that done. Do you think you can do that for me, Simon?"

Excited, Simon nods. "Sure. Just by last name, right?"

Thomas gives a nod.

Simon gives a small salute. "You can count on me!" He scampers off to Thomas's office, keeping the door slightly ajar as Thomas goes to try to cook dinner.

As soon as he enters the office and makes sure that it's private enough for him to work, Simon begins organizing the files. He eventually comes across three files that fall under C, N, and W and realizes that upon inspection of them, they seem awfully familiar…

He knows what he has to do.


	5. Kick it into Gear

 

> **When you try your best but you don't succeed**  
>  **When you get what you want but not what you need**  
>  **When you feel so tired but you can't sleep**  
>  **Stuck in reverse**
> 
> **And the tears come streaming down your face**  
>  **When you lose something you can't replace**  
>  **When you love someone but it goes to waste**  
>  **Could it be worse?**
> 
> **Lights will guide you home  
>  And ignite your bones**  
>  **And I will try to fix you**

~ “Fix You”, Coldplay

“Remind me again what it is we’re doing again?”

Ezra asks this as he, Simon and Wes and all pile into Wes’s van.

“It’s actually quite simple, Ezra,” Simon begins to explain. “We’re going on a reconnaissance mission.”

“What for?”

Simon takes a deep breath. “I have to help make something right. And I think I know someone who can help us out.”

Ezra gives Simon a look, his eyebrow arched. “And that would be…?”

“Your brother Ethan.”

Wes’s eyes widen. “Uh, Simon… where the hell are we supposed to find him?” he asks.

Simon takes another deep breath. “Well, if there’s one place that an agent likes to schmooze around here, it’s Freddy’s.”

“And how the hell do you know he’s gonna be there right now?” Ezra asks, a bit annoyed.

Wes grabs Ezra’s hand. “Just trust him. He’s never been wrong about something like this before.”

Ezra calms himself with a soft exhale as he intertwines his fingers with Wes’s. “I guess you’re right… What’s the address?”

 

* * *

 

Minutes later, Wes pulls into a spot right in front of Freddy’s Diner.

“Looks like Lady Luck is with us today,” Wes remarks.

Simon nods. “Let’s hope that continues for us, anyway…” He hops on Wes’s shoulders as Ezra looks through the windows for any sign of his brother.

“I think I see him,” Ezra says after a moment, covertly pointing to a booth where Ethan is sitting with one of the people that he has a file for.

“Good,” Simon replies, hopping off Wes’s shoulders. “I’m going in.”

“Not without us, you’re not,” Wes quickly tells him before he can get in the door. “Ezra is the perfect excuse to distract Ethan so you can get in for the info.”

Simon nods. “Alright.” He turns to Ethan. “He’s your brother. Lead the way.”

Ezra takes a deep breath and opens the door to the diner. The smell of chicken and waffles immediately hits his nose as the three of them enter, making their way over to the booth where Ethan is sitting with whom they assume is a client.

“Yo, Ethan!” Ezra says excitedly.

Looking away from the other person in the booth, Ethan looks to his brother. “Ezra!” He gets up and hugs Ezra. “What the hell are you doing in town?”

Ezra chuckles as he hugs his brother back. “Class trip for the semester.”

“Holy shit, this is awesome! Eddie and Easton are gonna be so excited you’re here!” Ethan turns to Wes. “And who’s this?”

“That’s my boyfriend Wes.”

Wes gives a small wave to Ethan. “Hey. Nice to meet you.”

Ethan smiles. “Oh, believe me, the pleasure’s mine.” He chuckles. “Speaking of boyfriends, the looker across the booth from me is Danny.”

The other man - Danny - gives a wave.

Simon, who’s underneath all of them practically, is sizing Danny up with his eyes.

Wes pats Simon on the head. “Calm down, Si.”

Ethan gives Wes a curious look before looking down to see Simon, arms crossed and looking between the four of them with the tiniest hint of impatience.

“Hey there, little guy,” Ethan says. “Didn’t see you there.”

Simon stands up on their table. “If that’s supposed to be a short joke, I’m not impressed.”

Wes looks to Ezra, quietly whispering, “I hate when he gets like this…”

Ethan quickly holds up his hands in defense. “I meant no harm to you, I swear.”

Simon lets out a breath. “Wes, take Ezra out to the van. I don’t want either of you seeing me angry.”

Wes nods after a few seconds, grabbing Ezra’s hand tightly and walking him out to the van.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?” Danny finally speaks up.

“Yeah, what’s this about?” Ethan asks immediately after his boyfriend’s question.

Simon takes a deep breath and sits on the window sill right in between the two of them. “Well… let’s just say that I’m here because I’m trying to fix something.”

Ethan raises an eyebrow. “Please tell me you’re not here in Bianca Stone’s defense.”

“Who?”

Danny and Ethan both let out sighs of relief. “Oh thank God.”

Simon crosses his arms again. “I can assure you that I’m not here in anyone else’s defense but my uncle’s.”

Ethan’s eyebrows arch. “Brian Ratzik?”

“No.”

“Richard Sheridan?”

Simon shakes his head. “Again, no.” He sighs. “Think a little closer to home.”

Danny looks at Simon confused. “But there’s nobody else that could-”

Ethan gives Danny a look. “Think a bit back in that little black book of yours, sugar.”

Simon glances between the two men.

After a moment, Danny still doesn’t come up with an answer.

Ethan sighs before handing Simon a few dollars. “Why don’t you get something for yourself while you’re here? I’m sure the trip here has made you hungry.”

Simon nods as he takes the bills gently from Ethan’s hand and hops off the table. “I need a drink…”

At that second, something dawns in Danny’s eyes, clarity coming from the once-vague signs that Simon was giving him.

“Wait,” Danny says to catch Simon’s attention.

Simon turns on his heel, his posture and facial expression reminding him of-

“Professor Hunt?” Danny asks.

“No offense to you, but… took you long enough,” Simon replies.

Ethan gets up from the booth, fixing his suit blazer. “What about Hunt?”

Simon sighs. “I’m going to ask that you help me out finding two other people that have kind of… broken my Uncle Thomas, for lack of a better term.”

“Why… Why do you need my help?”

“They’re your clients.”

Ethan blinks. “Oh.” He sighs. “Please tell me Hunt isn’t gonna snap on them if they’re all in the same room...”

Simon shakes his head. “I assure you that he won’t. He’s… a little too depressed to do that…”

Danny sighs. “Damn it, this is my fault… I have to go with you too, right?”

Nodding, Simon lets out a deep breath as his facial expression softens. “If you want to make this right for both of you, then yes.”

Ethan grabs Danny’s hand carefully. “Okay, we’ll go with you.”

Simon gets off the stool, handing Ethan his money back. “I knew both of you would make the right choice when someone’s heart is at stake here.” He sighs again. “Take me to Caesar first.”

Nodding, Ethan lets Simon climb onto his shoulder. “What about Wes and Ezra?”

“They’ll follow us in Wes’s van.” Simon pulls out his phone to text Ezra to follow Ethan’s car - a red Porsche, when he asks Ethan what the car looks like so Wes can follow - and quickly takes shotgun while Danny takes the back seat.

Ethan puts the keys in the ignition and sighs. “If I know Caesar well enough, he should be with-”

“He’s with Bree, actually,” Danny interrupts his boyfriend. “I heard him say he was going to watch her do some boxing at Crash’s gym today.”

Simon nods. “That makes this so much easier.”

Danny gives Simon a confused look. “Why would- Oh… They’re the other two people you’re looking for, right?”

“They have to be,” Ethan answers quickly before looking to Simon. “Right?”

Simon nods again in response. “So, to this gym, then?”

Ethan quickly nods and pulls out of the parking spot he was in. “Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

About fifteen minutes later, Ethan pulls into a space at the local gym, Wes’s van pulling up beside them.

Simon hops out of the Porsche. “Ethan, you’re coming with me. The rest of you are staying out here.”

Wes frowns. “Bummer…”

Ethan leads the way for Simon as they enter the gym, going back to a boxing ring area.

Caesar is sitting off in one corner of the room outside of the ring, sketching designs for a piece of athletic wear, when he notices Ethan.

“Hey, I got your text,” Caesar says in greeting. “What’s going on?”

Ethan sighs. “This is probably the last thing you and Bree want to hear right now, but…”

“My uncle Thomas is… not doing so well…” Simon finishes for Ethan.

Caesar looks at them confused. “Wait, you mean-”

“Hunt,” Ethan clarifies.

Immediately, Caesar frowns with concern in his eyes. “Aw jeez…”

Simon sighs as he looks up at Caesar. “We need Bree too.”

Caesar nods. “Give her just a few minutes… She’s in the middle of a match.”

Ethan and Simon turn around to see Bree in a boxing match with Zoe Rodriguez. They’re in the heat of the fight, giving each other a good set of swings before Bree gives Zoe a pretty good uppercut. Zoe drops to the floor, panting.

“Damn, Red,” Zoe says after a minute of letting her jaw try to heal. “You’re getting good at this.”

Bree smiles softly.

Zoe turns to Ethan slowly. “It looks like you’ve got more company.”

Ethan waves at Bree. “Hey, Red!”

Bree sighs. “Looks like this session’s getting cut short. This is probably important.”

Zoe nods in reply. “It’s fine. I gotta go ice this jaw anyway...” She stands up. “Good fight, though.”

Giving a nod, Bree exits the ring, sweat pouring from her forehead. “What’s going on?”

Ethan gives a small sigh, pointing down to Simon. “It’s better if Simon explains.”

Bree looks down at Simon perplexed.

Simon lets out a deep breath. “My uncle… he’s not doing so great… I was told by Ethan not to say his name around you, but… I’m here because I’m hell-bent on closure for him.”

Caesar looks over at Bree, a frown still on his face and sadness in his eyes.

Bree’s eyes widen. “I-I can’t… There’s no way I can go back to-”

“Look, I know this isn’t going to be easy,” Ethan interrupts, “but you’re not the only one doing that’s going to be doing this, okay?”

Simon nods. “Caesar and Danny are coming with us too. It won’t be just-”

“Hi, love, I’m- Oh...”

All four of them turn to see Amy walking in.

Simon sighs.

Walking towards Bree, Amy wraps her arms around the redhead and kissing her on the cheek. “Love, what’s going on?”

Bree doesn’t answer, frozen.

Simon clears his throat softly and looks up at Amy. “Let’s just say I’m here to right a few wrongs with…”

Amy understands what’s going on without Simon finishing his sentence, nodding and grabbing Bree’s hand. “I take it we’re all going back to his apartment?”

Ethan nods. “Why don’t you take Bree back? We’ve got the others covered.”

Nodding again and latching her arm around Bree’s, Amy takes a deep breath and looks to her girlfriend. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

Biting her lip and tightening her grip on Amy, Bree takes a deep breath, holding back tears as Amy leads her out.

Simon takes a long deep breath. “And now for the tough part.”


	6. Recovery

 

> **Suppose I called you up tonight**   
>  **And told you that I love you**   
>  **And suppose I said I wanna come back home**   
>  **And suppose I cried and said I think**   
>  **I've finally learned my lesson**   
>  **And I'm tired of spending all my time alone**
> 
> **If I told you that I realized you're all I ever wanted**   
>  **And it's killing me to be so far away**   
>  **Would you tell me that you love me too?**   
>  **And would we cry together?**   
>  **Or would you simply laugh at me and say?**
> 
> **I told you so**   
>  **Oh, I told you so**   
>  **I told you someday you'd come crawling back**   
>  **And asking me to take you in**   
>  **I told you so**   
>  **But you had to go**   
>  **Now I've found somebody new and you**   
>  **Will never break my heart in two again**
> 
> **If I got down on my knees**   
>  **And told you I was yours forever**   
>  **Would you get down on yours too and take my hand?**   
>  **Would we get that old time feeling?**   
>  **Would we laugh and talk for hours?**   
>  **The way we did when our love first began**
> 
> **Would you tell me that you've missed me too**   
>  **And that you've been so lonely**   
>  **And you've waited for the day that I returned**   
>  **And we'd live and love forever**   
>  **And that I'm your one and only**   
>  **Or would you say the tables finally turned?**
> 
> **I told you so**   
>  **Oh, I told you so**   
>  **I told you someday you'd come crawling back**   
>  **And asking me to take you in**   
>  **I told you so**   
>  **But you had to go**   
>  **Now I've found somebody new and you**   
>  **Will never break my heart in two again**
> 
> **Now I found somebody new and you**   
>  **Will never break my heart in two again**

~ "I Told You So", Carrie Underwood

Thomas downs his second small bottle of schnapps almost as fast as he downed his first, laying down on the couch and putting the empty bottle down on the coffee table. He’s the only one left in the apartment.

“I thought you promised to slow on the drinking, Thomas…” Bree’s voice is quiet and timid as she stands in the hallway with the rest of the group.

Freezing in his tracks, Thomas stops mid-drink before putting the bottle of schnapps down and looking at Bree, something indecipherable yet noticeably negative in his eyes.

Bree bites her lip, tears in her eyes. She squeezes Amy’s hand tightly. “You promised you’d slow on the drinking and take care of yourself. It’s going to kill you one day, Thomas…”

Simon sighs. “Well, this changes my plan…” he whispers to himself. He nods to Amy, who leads Bree inside. “The rest of you stay out here.”

Ethan nods, handing Simon something before he closes the door.

Thomas sighs as tears well up in his eyes, putting his head in his hands after he tosses the schnapps bottles in the trash.

Simon doesn’t know what to do with himself in the current situation, speechless.

Bree sniffles before she looked at Simon. “Why am I here?” She runs her fingers through her hair.

Simon swallows hard before sitting down on the recliner. “I… I brought you here because he doesn’t have closure. With any of you out there. I couldn’t watch him self-destruct like he was doing last night…” He sighs softly. “I may not have known him for that long, but I knew that I had to do something to make this right… I’m not mad at any of you and neither is he, but… I can’t stand seeing him like this. I had to make this right.”

Bree sighs and walks up looking at Thomas face to face.

Thomas looks up slowly, vulnerability emanating from his blue-gray eyes. “I’m so sorry…” he whispers, swallowing hard as he lets tears fall from his eyes. “I-I just… I couldn’t take all of you being gone from my life… After last semester, I thought none of you would come back to me…”

Bree sighs. “No one is angry with you, Thomas.  I-I know you hurt me really badly… but we forgive you.. A-At least I do.”

“So do I,” Caesar adds as he steps inside. “And Danny is sorry about what he did to you. He’d say that himself… but he’s sort of in tears in Ethan’s arms right now.”

Thomas stands up, looking at Bree. “What I did to you… that itself was killing me on the inside… and I’m sorry, Bree.”

Bree takes a deep breath and her voice cracks. “T-Then why did you?”

Simon bites his lip, leaving and going into the spare bedroom, crouching down in front of the door.

Thomas hangs his head, letting more tears slip out. “Because I was being an asshole that didn’t have his priorities straight… I cared about my career - or better, what I had left of it - over the people I loved… That’s the reason why I haven’t met Amy formally before yesterday. That’s the reason I haven’t seen my cousin Dave and his kids until yesterday when they flew in from New York… and that’s the reason why I stupidly let each and every one of you get pushed away from me by my own hands…” He sits down back on the couch, sobbing.

Bree sits down next to him and rubs his back. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“N-No, it’s not…” Thomas manages to say between sobs, feeling Caesar’s arms wrap around him and Amy rubbing his back. “I treated all of you like shit… and I can’t hurt anyone else anymore… I’m better off alone for the rest of my life…”

“No, you aren’t Thomas. I forgive you.” Bree leans her head on his shoulder gently.

Thomas takes a deep breath, wiping the tears from his eyes but barely able to do anything else. “Where is Danny?”

Ethan pokes his head inside the room. “He’s out here.”

“And what on Earth are all of you doing out here?” Dave asks, carrying Theodore and Eleanor inside the apartment as Miss Miller follows with the other chipmunks.

“I-I can explain,” Simon answers as he exits the bedroom. “…They’re all here because of me.” He sighs. “Uncle Thomas was too heartbroken to function last night and this morning… so I got a few of his… past significant others to come here for closure. After this was done, they were going to leave.”

Dave sighs. “Well, they can’t leave now. Not with the rain that’s coming down out there right now…”

Bree blinks. “R-Rain?” She bit her lip gently.  

Dave nods in response. “We’ll all have to stay here for the next day or two.”

Simon lets out a soft breath. “I’m sorry, Dave. I-I didn’t know this would happen…”

Bree looks to Amy. “What about Harri? He’ll be all alone tonight and tomorrow…”

“If I tell him the address, he’ll be able to get here sooner than the dorm,” Amy responds.

Thomas sits in the midst of the group, unsure what to do with himself.

Simon looks up at Dave with scared and sad eyes.

Bree sighs and looked around the room. “I know this isn’t… ideal for us.” She looks at Thomas specifically. “I know you think we hate you, but we don’t; and this can be the start of getting over that.”

Thomas gives a short nod as Dave cleans off the coffee table. “I have a few spare cots in the closet from my army days if anyone needs those.”

Ethan nods, pulling Danny inside so they’re not in the way of people in the hallway.

Simon sits in a corner of the room, keeping to himself.

Bree walks over and sits in front of him. “You alright?”

Taking a deep breath, Simon shakes his head. “I-I had no idea I’d bring you guys here and make you get stuck here overnight. I just… I wanted Uncle Thomas to-”

“Feel better?” Thomas finishes. “I do.” He slowly walks over and sits next to Bree. “I feel more at peace than I did before, which is a start.”

Bree nods and looks at Simon. “You did a good thing today.”

Simon takes another breath to calm himself down, getting up after a minute and hugging Thomas tightly.

Thomas smiles softly, picking Simon up. “Thank you.”

“O-of course,” Simon replies. “A-Anything for family.”

Bree smiles before sighing and standing up looking at Thomas. “We need to talk.”

Thomas nods, placing Simon down and escorting her out into the kitchen. “What is it?” he asks softly.

“I stood by you when you told me it was only a one night stand. The time you promised it would get better but broke it off because you were afraid of what people would think the time you left for Caesar, I-I stuck by you. I just want to know why.” She looks up at him teary eyed.

Swallowing hard, Thomas tries to fight back his tears. “Because I thought I wasn’t good enough for you… I’m not good enough for anyone, so I figured that if I didn’t break up with you before you found out I was a total piece of shit, you’d eventually break up with me once you realized that…”

Bree, without almost no hesitation, pulls Thomas by the collar down to her height and kisses him passionately.

Thomas wraps his arms around Bree, kissing her back and relaxing somewhat into her touch.

Bree pulls away after a long moment. “It’s been almost a year and a half. And yet I’m still here.” She kisses his head gently before heading out of the room, going over to Amy and curling up in her arms.

“Wait…” Thomas says quietly to Bree. “I have something I need to say to you in private.”

Bree nods and kisses Amy’s cheek before going back over to him.

Thomas takes a deep breath, wrapping a blanket that he grabbed around Bree. “I hope this doesn’t make things awkward, but yesterday… I found out that Amy is my niece. Dave is her father.” He wraps his arms around Bree’s waist. “I know this might be hard to take… but you have my blessing if you want to stay with her. And Harrison, from what I hear. I won’t be upset if you decide to stay with them long-term. I have the closure with you that I needed.” He chuckles. “And either way, I get to see more of you anyway, so… This is a good thing.”

Bree reaches up and strokes his cheek. “I love Amy and Harri both, but we talked; she always knew I wasn’t completely over you…I won’t leave her but I will be here for you.”

“I know that… I’d never ask you to leave her or Harrison.” Thomas kisses her forehead gently. “I’m just… I’m happy to have you back in my life regardless, even if it’s more of a family case.”

Bree smiles slightly and reaches up on her toes, kissing him softly before pulling away and pulling the blanket around her tighter.

Thomas smiles softly in return, keeping his arms wrapped around Bree. “Are you okay?”

Bree nods. “A little cold; the rain is starting.”

“Let’s get back out there, okay? We’ll be warmer out there with everyone else.”

Bree nods again, heading back in the living room and sitting next to Amy.

Amy smiles and wraps her arms around Bree.

The doorbell rings, and Dave goes over to open the door.

Harrison stands at the doorway, a bouquet in one hand and a closed umbrella in the other. “Are Amy and Bree here?”

“We’re back here, Harri!” Amy shouts from the couch.

Dave smiles at the blond man. “Come on in.”

Bree smiles once Harrison walked back and kisses his cheek. “Hi, Harri.”

Harrison sits on the back of the couch, wrapping his arms around Amy and Bree. “Hey, yourselves,” he replies, adjusting the blanket wrapped around Bree. “Place is a little crowded, eh?”

Bree nods and laughs a little. “Maybe just a little.”

Thomas smiles. “But if we’re all going to be here for a little while, I promise to make this place home… It’s the least that I can do.”

Bree gives a small smile. “Thank you.”

Dave closes the blinds and shuts the curtains. “It’s getting close to sunset. All of you should make yourselves as comfortable as you can. We’ll be here a while…”

Thomas nods in agreement, turning to the Chipmunks and Chipettes. “You kids need anything?”

All six chipmunks shake their heads.

“Okay, then everyone should get comfortable. We’ll be here for a long while.”


	7. Innocent Joy

> **Wendy, run away with me**   
>  **I know I sound crazy**   
>  **Don’t you see what you do to me?**   
>  **I wanna be your lost boy**   
>  **Your last chance, a better reality**
> 
> ****Wendy, we can get away  
>  I promise if you’re with me   
>  **Say the word and we’ll find a way**   
>  **I can be your lost boy, your last chance**   
>  **Your everything better plan**   
>  **Oh, somewhere in Neverland**

~ "Somwehere in Neverland", All Time Low

“Group meeting!”

The shout from Dave makes Thomas jolt upright in bed. Taking a breather, Thomas stands up from the bed and walks out into the living room.

Dave is standing in front of Miss Miller, Amy, Bree, Harrison, and all six chipmunks when Thomas walks in and sits on the recliner.

“G’morning, sleepyhead!” Theodore says with a giggle.

Thomas smiles, looking at Dave. “Thanks for that…”

Dave chuckles. “Believe me, I need you awake for this, Thomas.” He sits on a wooden chair. “We have a gig today that we all need to prepare for.”

Bree blinks, looking at Amy in surprise. "Me too?"

Amy giggles. “It’s the same gig, love.”

“Yeah, they’re the entertainment for Abby’s birthday party,” Harrison adds.

Bree smiles  and nods. "Awesome! I'm excited - what's it for?"

Dave stands up. “Well, the kids are going to be the musical entertainment, and Amy had an idea for what you guys could do.”

Amy nods. “The party is ‘Frozen’ themed, so…” She looks at Bree. “The three of us are dressing up as the main characters and doing a little ‘meet-and-greet’ with Abby.”

Bree's eyes light up with glee. "We are? No way! That's so cool!"

“My friend Ilyria is going to help us out with the costumes,” Harrison says.

“And we needed an Olaf, and one of the ‘munks couldn’t play him, so I called in a favor with my little sister Alli to bring someone over from Briar,” Amy adds just before the doorbell rings. “Ah, here he is.” She walks over to the door and opens it. “Come on in.” She opens the door wider to find Bree’s younger brother Liam.

Bree laugh happily. "Li!" She hugged her baby brother to her.

Liam hugs Bree back tightly. “Hi, Bree!” He pulls away. “I’m so excited!”

Bree giggles and kisses his head. "I know Li. I didn't forget your love for Olaf."

Dave smiles. “We should all probably get going.” He hands Harrison the keys to the tour bus. “Take us to this Ilyria friend of yours.”

Harrison gives a small salute to Dave. “Aye aye, captain.”

Alvin dives onto Harrison’s shoulders and latches on. “Piggyback!”

Liam looks up at Dave as he presents him with something. “Here, Mr. Seville. I’m trusting you with my new camera.”

Dave smiles. “Thank you, buddy.”

Bree squeezes Amy's hand and giggles. "He's so excited."

Amy giggles as well.  “Why do you think Alli picked him of all people?” She shakes her head. “Her second choice was Nish, but she was afraid he’d get too in character…”

Dave smiles as he watches the kids start to warm up to everyone else. “Let’s get going.”

* * *

Amy takes a deep breath in the mirror, donning full Elsa wear as she fixes the wig. “Do I look okay, love?”

Harrison chuckles. "Beautiful. Amazing."

“You don’t look so bad yourself, mountain man,” Amy replies with a soft laugh.

“We’re here!” Dave hollers from the front of the tour bus as he pulls up in front of a karaoke bar.

Thomas raises an eyebrow. “Why are we-”

Dave sighs. “It’s a dry bar today, Thomas. Amy was able to convince the owner to reserve the alcohol in the back and keep it locked. Mostly for the kids’ sake. And yours.”

Nodding, Thomas stands up as the six chipmunks rush out.

Harrison leads Bree, Amy, and Liam outside; Dave quickly follows them.

Thomas takes a deep breath.

Dave turns back to look at Thomas. “You’ll be fine. Come on.”

Closing his eyes for just a second, Thomas nods and exits the bus after Dave, seeing a student of his - Trace Matthews - and a blond man doting over a five-year-old girl in the blond’s arms.

The girl squeals when she sees Bree as Anna and Amy as Elsa. “Anna! Elsa! You came!” She leaps out of her father’s arms and goes over to the two women. “And you brought Kristoff and Olaf! You guys are all gonna sing, right?”

Harrison nods. “Yes, we are, and so are these little guys behind us.”

When the little girl notices the Chipmunks and Chipettes, she squeals again as she runs over to them and hugs Brittany.

Alvin looks at the little girl. “What am I? Chump change?”

“She’s prettier,” the little girl replies.

“Come on, Abby!” Trace shouts. “We need to go inside!”

Abby looks over, letting go from Brittany. “Okay, Uncle Tracey!”

Trace sighs, quickly leading everyone into the building. The tables are all covered in glittering royal blue tablecloths with white snowflake lace, and the stage looks like it could be an ice sculpture on its own.

Bree blinks and looks at Harrison. "I-I didn't know we were singing!" She bites her lip.

Amy giggles softly. “Maybe we can tell her we’re all trying to save our voices for something else that we have to go to after the party,” she whispers.

Harrison chuckles and shakes his head. "Let's save the surprise. C’mon guys, let's prepare for the photo booth."

Liam nods. “Yeah, let’s try to make sure that’s all set.”

Thomas takes a breath as he notices Brittany go over to the coolers for a drink, and instead of reaching in and grabbing a Capri Sun like she thought, she grabs a bottle of-

“Beer?” Thomas whispers to himself, going over to Brittany. “Brittany, put that back.”

“It’s just a drink,” Brittany quips. “Why should I-”

“ **Now**.”

Brittany sighs. “Okay…” She puts the beer can back in it place after reading the label, pushing it under a table so no one could take anything out of it.

Thomas walks over to the raven-haired man - Abby’s ‘uncle’. “A moment, Mr. Matthews?”

Startled, Trace nods. “Yeah, of course, Professor.” He follows Thomas to a nearby booth area. “What are you-”

“Not important,” Thomas replies before Trace can even finish his sentence. “We need to have a talk about Abby’s father.”

“You mean Jylah?”

Thomas nods curtly and crosses his arms. “Brittany picked up a beer from the cooler.”

Stunned, Trace blinks, his eyes going wide in response. “Wh-What?”

“It seems someone snuck it in here, and it can’t be you because you’re more of a wine person than a beer person.” Thomas lets out a breath. “So I can only assume it’s that boyfriend of yours since I haven’t seen heads nor tails of this place’s owner yet.”

Trace nods. “Yeah, his drinking’s been pretty bad lately…”

Letting out a breath again, Thomas leans against the wall. “Tell Jylah I want to talk to him on Monday. Not right now because in about thirty seconds, we’ll be under the presence of more five-year-olds than just Abby. Get rid of the cooler before any other kids can find it. Got it?” He puts a hand gently on Trace’s shoulder. “I’ll try to make this easier for you, alright?”

Trace nods again, mouthing a ‘thank you’ before heading off to find the cooler.

Content with the conversation, Thomas sighs before going to sit in the booth right next to where he was standing. He felt like sort of a sitting duck, not really sure what to do with himself while everyone else was occupied with things for the party as the kids started to flood in.

Harrison motions for Liam to get in place with his camera as he stood between Amy and Bree near the themed photo booth set up

Liam slowly gets into position, making sure that his camera is properly fixed. “Okay, ready! Birthday girl first!”

Abby runs over to the three, looking up at Bree. “C-Can you hug me for the picture, Anna?”

Bree smiles down at her and nods, picking her up into her arms and kissing her cheek for the picture.

The little girl giggles as Liam takes the picture.

“Come on, guys!” Alvin says. “This concert isn’t gonna set up itself!”

“It might go smoother for all of us if you, you know, **helped** ,” Simon spits out bitterly.

“Simon…” Jeanette says softly. “D-Don’t scare the kids.”

Eleanor goes over to the amplifiers and looks at the wire plugs quizzically, unsure which wires went into which socket.

Caesar jogs over and bends down next to her. "Here. Let me, sweetheart."

“O-Okay.” Eleanor hands Caesar the wires.

Thomas sighs, watching everyone else fluidly going through preparations and other activities when he feels a tap on his shoulder.

Dave looks at Thomas, concerned. "You alright?"

Shrugging, Thomas takes a breath and stands up. “I just sort of feel like I’m a sitting duck, you know what I mean?”

Dave nods in understanding. "I do, why don't you go help out in the photo booth; I'm sure it would be fun."

Thomas nods. “I’ll give it a shot." He starts walking over to the photo booth area, turning back to look at Dave after a moment. "Thank you."

Giving a small nod, Dave has a soft smile on his face as he follows Thomas part of the way to the photo booth.

Harrison chuckles as so many little kids ran to hug both girls dressed as Anna and Elsa.

Thomas takes a deep breath, ushering Liam to get in for one last shot after all of the other kids disperse in the area. As he’s about to take the picture of the four with Abby, Trace and Jylah, someone sneaks in behind Bree and gives her bunny ears just before the flash goes off. Thomas chuckles to himself as the picture starts developing.

Bree blinks and looks up at her hair. "Hey; who did that?"

Amy giggles. “Well, this is **his** bar, love…”

Kane chuckles. "Hey there, darlin’. Or should I say Anna?"

Liam nuzzles his head into Kane’s side. “Hi, Kane!”

Amy smiles, letting the three of them have their moment.

Kane chuckles and hugs him back, ruffling his hair. "Hey there buddy how you've been?"

Liam smiles. “Not bad. I’m just so excited that I’m here as Olaf for this party!”

Amy giggles as she lets Abby down and Trace and Jylah pull the little girl away so she can open her presents. “Hey, Kane.” She wraps her arms around Bree and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Kane chuckles again and waves. "Hey, cupcake. How’ve you been?"

“I’ve been good.” Amy feels Harrison hug both her and Bree. She looks at the redhead. “Are you okay?”

Bree blinks, coming back from her daydream. "W-what?"

Amy frowns. “Is something wrong?”

Bree nods slightly. "Y-Yeah..." She plays with one of her braids.

Letting out a deep breath, Amy grabs Bree’s hand. “Excuse us for a moment.” She pulls Bree aside, wrapping her arms around Bree’s waist. “Love, are you sure nothing is wrong?”

Bree sighs, leaning her head against Amy's shoulder. "I-I'm alright...."

Amy sighs again. “It doesn’t seem like it…”

"Boxing is killing me and the weights Zoe keeps pushing on me..." Bree bites her lip. "I'm so sore a-and so tired."

Hugging Bree, Amy places a kiss on her forehead. “At least the pictures are over, huh? No more holding kids for photos unless it’s Abby and she’s sitting in your lap.” She giggles. “Or one of the Chipmunks. I saw Theodore giving you worried looks earlier.”

Bree gives a small smile and takes a deep breath. "R-Right. Let's go back in there."

Amy lets out another breath. “Hold on… Are you sure Kane isn’t bothering you? You know that if one of us says the word, he’ll respect our space. I just… I want to make sure that he’s not making you like this.”

Bree quickly shakes her head. "N-No, it's not Kane. He's my best friend."

“Okay. I just wanted to make sure.” Amy smiles. “Abby will probably understand if we sit down for just a little while.” She takes Bree’s hand.

Bree shakes her head again, taking a few deep breaths. "I-I can do this."

“Amy, we have a problem,” Liam says quickly as he goes over to them. “Abby wants to see Elsa sing ‘Let it Go’.”

Smiling wider, Amy nods. “I think I can do it, but I’ll need Simon’s help if I’m going to make this believable.”

Liam nods. “Of course. I’ll have him set up.” He runs off.

Amy smiles as she turns back to Bree. “Mind holding Abby in your lap while I do this? The ‘munks have something for her after.”

Bree nods and goes to find the little girl. "C'mon, Abby; Elsa is going to sing!" She picks her up, sitting front row and placing Abby on her lap.

Clapping her hands, Abby squeals softly and hugs Bree.

Amy takes a deep breath and looks at Simon, giving him a signal as he starts up the music and Jeanette gets behind the special effects board and starts it up.

Taking a deep breath, Amy prepares her voice before she starts to sing.

**The snow glows white on the mountain tonight**   
**Not a footprint to be seen**   
**A kingdom of isolation**   
**And it looks like I'm the queen**

**The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside  
Couldn't keep it in, Heaven knows I tried**

Amy fiddles with her gloves that went along with the coronation outfit, hitting a few sensors on the light blue cloth on her hand as she continues.

****Don't let them in, don't let them see  
Be the good girl you always have to be   
**Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know**   
**Well, now they know**

She tosses off the gloves, and she holds her hand out. She looks as if she’s manifesting snow in her hands, thanks to Simon and Jeanette’s special effects. The snow and ice effects continue as the song does as well.

****Let it go, let it go  
Can't hold it back anymore   
**Let it go, let it go**   
**Turn away and slam the door**   
**I don't care what they're going to say**   
**Let the storm rage on**   
**The cold never bothered me anyway**

****It's funny how some distance  
Makes everything seem small   
**And the fears that once controlled me**   
**Can't get to me at all**

****Up here in the cold thin air  
I can finally breathe   
**I know I left a life behind**   
**But I'm too relieved to grieve**

****It's time to see what I can do  
To test the limits and break through   
**No right, no wrong, no rules for me**

Before the rest of the verse finishes, Harrison and Liam tear her coronation dress away (exactly what it was built for) and the crystal blue dress she wore underneath is revealed as Simon amps up the effects just a little. Amy pulls the blonde wing out of the bun so it flowed down into a braided ponytail instead.

** I'm free **

****Let it go, let it go  
I am one with the wind and sky   
**Let it go, let it go**   
**You'll never see me cry**   
**Here I stand**   
**And here I'll stay**   
**Let the storm rage on**   
**The cold never bothered me anyway**

****Standing frozen  
In the life I've chosen   
**You won't find me**   
**The past is all behind me**   
**Buried in the snow**

****My power flurries through the air into the ground  
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around   
**And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast**   
**I'm never going back - the past is in the past**

Amy starts to step off the stage as the final chorus arrives.

****Let it go, let it go  
When I'll rise like the break of dawn   
**Let it go, let it go**   
**That perfect girl is gone**   
**Let it go, let it go**   
**The cold never bothered me anyway**

****Let it go, let it go  
Can't hold it back anymore   
**Let it go, let it go**   
**Turn my back and slam the door**   
**Here I stand**   
**In the light of day**   
**Let the storm rage on**

She leans down in front of Abby and pokes the little girl’s nose.

** The cold never bothered me anyway **

Abby giggles and claps, hugging Amy tightly before going back to her father.

Content, Amy looks at Bree. “You feeling better?”

Bree laughs and smile. "That was beautiful."

Laughing, Amy sits next to Bree. “Now you can see why showbiz runs in this family.”

Thomas smiles to himself as he saved the recording of Amy singing to his phone, sending it to Liam so that he could do with it what he wanted - responsibly, of course. He reaches over to take another drink when he realizes it’s empty. He huffs and stands up, going over to the cooler to look for another water bottle and see that there are none left. “Crap…” he mutters.

"Here." Kane slides a tall glass of water towards Thomas.

Startled a little, Thomas looks up to see Kane and the glass of water that's now in front of him.  "Thank you. I didn't feel like taking any of the kids' drinks."

Kane chuckles and nods. "It's alright. I've got a toddler of my own; I understand juice boxes get tiring really quickly."

Thomas smiles. "The only reason I'm here is because I'm chaperoning a party of six." He sighs. "Well, that's not the only reason, but... the story is complicated and-" He finally registers who he's talking to and he blushes. "Shit... Wow, my memory is really bad when I'm sober... Guess I'll have to get working on that..." He sighs. "I suppose you still want to kick my ass after everything I did to Bree, right...?"

Kane pretends to think for a moment and shakes his head, chuckling. "Nope. Seems you two are on good terms; no need for me to be angry. Like I said, I have a baby myself - a toddler. I've been trying to not be as angry for her, at least."

"Is your child here? I'd like to think that maybe I would've seen them here..."

Kane nods his head and smiles. "See the little Ariel over in the corner? That's my little curly Karlie."

Thomas chuckles. "She definitely looks like you." He shakes his head. "My nieces and nephews just so happen to be on stage right now, believe it or not."

Kane laughs. "I thought I noticed a similarity." He laughs slightly again and looks down when Karlie tugs on his pants.

Karlie holds her arms up to her father. "Daddy, pick up?"

Kane chuckles and smiles, picking her up and kissing her head. "Hey, princess. Are you enjoying the party?"

Karlie nods and leans her head on his shoulder. "Elsa sang ‘Let it ‘Go”!" Her eyes widen and she giggles, softly whispering to him, "Daddy, did you know Momma was Anna?!"

Thomas smiles at Karlie before glancing over at Alvin, Simon and Theodore as they sang a One Direction song for Abby.

Alvin tries his best to get Abby to dance with him during the song, but the second Theodore gets close enough, Abby rushes over and starts to dance with him.

"Well, at least the birthday girl is happy," Thomas says with a soft smile.

Kane chuckles. "She seems to not like Alvin." He hands Karlie a sippy cup full of water. "Then again, he is pretty assertive."

Thomas chuckles as well. "Yeah, he's kind of an-" He feels someone tug at his leg, and he sees Jeanette at his feet, tears in her eyes. "Anxiety attack?"

Jeanette nods as Thomas picks her up.

"It'll be okay," Thomas says as he rubs her back. "Did you forgot your medicine this morning?"

Sheepishly, Jeanette nods again.

Thomas pulls a pill bottle out from his pocket, opening it and handing Jeanette one of the small yellow pills. He hands her his glass of water and watches her drink a bit of it after putting the pill in her mouth, swallowing both. "Better?"

Jeanette nods. "A little at least."

Pulling her into a hug, Thomas takes a breath of relief. "Go back out there and finish the set, okay?"

"Okay," Jeanette says with a smile before running off.

Thomas takes a deep breath and smiles, watching as Brittany teaches Abby how to do the Cha-Cha slide and sings the song along with it.

Kane chuckles, setting Karlie down and watching her run off. "You're good with kids."

"I'm better than I thought I'd ever be with them," Thomas says with a sigh. "They've all been living in my apartment for the last week... And they've warmed up to me much quicker that I thought..."

Kane nods and smiles. "Yeah, I understand. I-I didn't think I'd be a good dad." He looks over at Karlie sitting on Bree's lap, watching the performance in awe. "I got her pregnant in our senior year, after the prom. Bree was ecstatic even though we were a bit young and I was terrified. Then there she was, cradled in Bree's arms snuggled up in her little pink blanket cuddled to Bree's chest. God, Bree looked beautiful that day; but Karlie... I-I just knew that I'd do absolutely anything for her. Anything. That's how you are lately becoming with your nieces and nephews. I can tell."

Thomas gives Kane a slight nod. "You know, for being famous, not all of them have egos the size of Hollywood itself." He chuckles. "Alvin and Brittany are the exceptions, of course." He takes a sip of his water, keeping his hand wrapped around the glass. "It's just very weird; meeting them... They changed me." He smiles as he watches Simon try to dance with Karlie during one of the numbers, watching them both fall on the padded floor and they both giggle for a few seconds. "Believe it or not, only one day after meeting them, Simon apparently had the gut instinct to go find Bree because I was just in such a crappy mood and I almost drank myself to death." He sighs again. "I sort of... feel like I owe him my life now, and that's never happened to me before except with Bree, not to mention with a kid..."

Kane nods. "I understand, Thomas. Maybe you do owe him; maybe you don't; but that little guy cares about you. That much you can tell."

Letting out a breath, Thomas nods and lets go of his glass. He shifts in his chair, somewhat nervous.

"You alright?" Kane looks at him concerned.

Thomas nods, a faint blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"What's got you tongue-" He hears a small cry and looks down, seeing Karlie crying and holding her knee. Seeing Bree couldn't get to her and looked troubled, he jogged over to her. "What's wrong, Karlie Cutie?"

Quietly, Thomas follows, keeping a little bit of distance from Kane and with a look of concern for the little girl on his face.

Karlie sniffles and rubs her eyes, clinging onto Kane's shoulder as she had tears in her eyes. "Daddy..."

Kane stands up, cradling his little girl to his chest and rubbing her back as she cried. "What's wrong, baby girl?"

Karlie sniffles again and rubs her eyes, pulling away to look into his eyes. "Alwin hit me." She sniffles and kicks her leg out so he could see the cut. "Momma and Daddy make better." She sniffles and looks up at him again.

Thomas takes a deep breath, looking at Karlie. “I’ll take care of Alvin, sweetheart. You just stay here with your dad, okay?”

Karlie looks up at Thomas and nods her head, leaning it back on Kane's shoulder and putting her thumb in her mouth. "Want Momma, Daddy..."

Kane nods and kisses her head. "Thank you, Thomas." He slowly walks over to where Bree and Amy were standing, looking at Karlie with worried eyes.

Amy holds Bree’s hand, rubbing the fingers of her hand gently as she sees Thomas’ face harden at the sight of Alvin. “Cover Karlie’s ears. This is gonna get ugly…”

Bree nods, taking Karlie from Kane and rocking her between herself and Amy, cradling her head to her chest and covering her eyes and ears. "Shh, it's okay, baby.  Momma and Mommy Amy are here."

Karlie sniffles and nods, giggling softly. "Mommy Amy is Elsa!"

As soon as Karlie’s ears are covered, Thomas lets out, “AAALLLVIIINNN!!!”

The six chipmunks jump, and Simon and Brittany each grab one of Alvin’s arms as Thomas walks over to them.

Quickly, Thomas picks Alvin up by the collar. “ **Don’t hit people**. Understand?”

Alvin nods in fear.

Thomas takes a breath and puts Alvin back on the ground. “You’re staying with Miss Miller tonight.”

“Dang it…” Alvin walks off, still on adrenaline out of fear.

Dave picks him up. "We love you, Alvin, and your uncle does too, very much; but you've got to remember these little kids are very little and get hurt easily. We don't want you to get in trouble because you accidentally hit one. Now you have; go ahead and apologize to Miss Washington, then go talk to your uncle."

Alvin nods, sheepishly for once. He walks over to Kane, pulling something out of his pocket. “U-uh… K-Karlie, right?” He takes a deep breath. “I’m really sorry.” He hands Karlie a small red baseball cap. “This was one of my hats when I was little… and now it’s yours.”

Karlie climbs out of her mother’s arms and takes the red cap. She gives him a smile, hugging him and giggling. "It's okay! You can keep the hat, Alwin. Can we be friends instead?"

Chuckling a little, Alvin hugs Karlie back. “Y-Yeah. Of course we can.” He tucks the hat back in his pocket. “I’ll be right back.” He scampers over to Thomas, looking up at him.

Thomas ruffles Alvin’s head gently. “You did good, buddy, but you’re still sleeping in Miss Miller’s room tonight. Actions don’t come without their consequences.” He smiles down at him. “Now, go play with the others again, okay?”

Alvin nods, hugging Thomas’s leg before scampering off again to go over to Theodore.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Thomas heads back over to Bree and the others.

Bree gives Thomas a small smile. "Thank you." She kisses Karlie's cheek as she held her. "We're planning on leaving soon; Karlie's getting tired, and I'm pretty sore myself."

Thomas nods. "Sounds fine by me." He kisses Bree's cheek gently and turns to Kane. "Would you and Karlie like to stay over my place tonight? I'm sure Bree would love to have a few nights with Karlie."

Kane laughs and nods. "Perfect. Bree is staying with you? I'm sure both Karlie, Bree and the chipmunks would love it."

Smiling softly, Thomas looks at Karlie. "Feel better?"

Karlie looks up at him and smiles. "Yeah! Momma said that we can go get some ice scream and then go home!"

Thomas smiles, listening as the Chipmunks start packing up after all the kids had gone, including little Abby after Trace and Jylah thanked Kane for the party venue.

Eleanor leads the six as they finally come over and look up at Karlie.

Carefully, Thomas picks Theodore and Eleanor up in his arms so they're eye-level with Karlie.

Karlie yawns and rubs her eyes. She waves, giggling slightly. "Hi!"

Theodore giggles, linking his tiny paw with Karlie's hand. "Hi! We heard ice cream."

Thomas chuckles. "Yeah, we were planning on getting some as a group."

Karlie giggles and smiles at him happily. "Yay."

Amy smiles as she notices that the place is empty. "I guess now's as good a time as any to go."

Liam nods as he scoops up Theodore and Eleanor in his arms. "I think we're all set."

Thomas smiles, picking Simon up in his arms before he turns to Kane. "I'm assuming you still need to lock up?"

Kane nods, grabbing his keys. "Mhm. It'll only be about five minutes."

Karlie looks at Amy. "Mommy Amy, up?" She holds her arms up to her. "Pleeease?"

Amy giggles a little. "Of course." She kneels down to pick up Karlie. "Did you like the party?"

Karlie yawns and nods, nuzzling her head into Amy's shoulder. "Mhm. Hehe, let it gooo." She yawns again and giggles quietly.

Amy laughs a little. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, sweetheart."

Theodore looks up at Bree timidly.

Bree smiles down at him, picking him up. "Well hello, cutie."

"H-Hi," Theodore replies. "You look really pretty as Anna."

Bree giggles and hugs him. "Well thank you, Theodore."

Theodore blushes slightly as Dave starts leading everyone out to the tour bus.

Letting Simon hop down from his arms, Thomas smiles contently as they all pile in.

Karlie skips over, climbing onto Harrison's lap. "Daddy Warbucks!"

Harrison chuckles. "Hey, sweetheart."

Karlie smiles and gives him a hug. "Can we all sleep on the floor like we did last time, Daddy Warbucks?"

Harrison chuckles again, hugging Karlie back and nodding. "Of course we can, sweetheart."

Thomas patiently waits outside the tour bus as Kane finishes locking up.

Kane smiles and locks the outside before jogging to the bus. "Thanks for waiting."

Thomas nods, leading Kane inside the bus and nodding to Dave.

Dave starts up the engine, and once he's sure everyone is seated, he starts the drive to the local ice cream parlor.

Bree smiles, taking the wig off and curling up on the seat. She lays her head on Amy's shoulder, watching Karlie.

Karlie smiles and yawns, rubbing her eyes and leaning her back on Harrison's chest.

Kane smiles. "So you all pile into your apartment, Thomas? Why don't you come by my house? It's pretty big. Everyone has room there."

Thomas blinks. "Are you sure?"

Karlie looks up happily. "We go to big house, daddy?"

Kane chuckle. "Yeah, honey, we're all gonna go to the big house. Momma can sleep in her bed and everything."

Thomas smiles, leaning back in his seat and getting lost in his own thoughts.

* * *

"Okay, everyone," Dave says to grab attention, "time to head into the house."

Thomas snaps back to reality after being out of it since they left the ice cream place. He follows the rest of the group into the house, not quite sure what to do with himself.

Kane locks the door once everyone is inside. "Welcome home, guys. C’mon, I can prep the room if ya'll want to just camp out together on the floor."

Bree is almost completely sleep. "I-I just might take the bed. I'm so tired and sore..."

Amy nods. "If that's the case, I'll join you, love." She grabs Bree's hand and looks to Kane. "If that's okay with you, of course."

Kane nods and kisses both of their heads. "Get some rest, you two. Karlie, you wanna sleep with Momma?"

Karlie yawns and nods. "Okay!" She holds her arms up to Bree.

Bree smiles and picks her up. "Say goodnight, baby girl." She kisses her head gently.

Karlie waves and yawns, curling up in Bree's arms. "Night night!"

Thomas smiles softly as he sees Bree and Amy take Karlie to one bedroom and as Miss Miller takes Alvin to another. He notices that Theodore and Eleanor are curled up on either side of Brittany, their heads on her legs. Simon is curled up in Caesar's lap drifting off, and Jeanette is already asleep in Harrison's lap.

Kane chuckles. "Looks like we should all go get some rest."

Bree smiles, holding Karlie in her arms. "Get some rest, baby. Mommy Amy and I will change your clothes."

Amy nods, taking off her blonde wig.

Bree quickly changes Karlie into a pair of Frozen pajamas and put on a night shirt herself. Laying down on the bed, she cradles Karlie to her chest and strokes her hair back. "I love you, princess." She kisses her temple gently.

Karlie yawns, curling into Bree and the blankets, snuggling in. "I love you too, Momma..." She slowly falls asleep.

Amy curls up next to Bree, weaving her fingers in her hair.

Bree smiles and leans her head on Amy's, whispering quietly, "I love you, Ames." She kisses her gently.

Amy melts into the kiss for a moment before pulling away to say, “I love you too.”

Bree yawns and lays back against the pillows.

Amy wraps her arms around Bree as they both start to drift off.

Thomas takes a seat on the couch before slowly adjusting himself to lay down.

"C’mon. There's a room for you Thomas." Kane waves for Thomas to follow him.

Thomas follows Kane to the bedroom, keeping quiet.

Kane opens the door to a guest room. "Here you go, Thomas."

Thomas nods. “Thank you. You… You really didn’t have to do this, Kane.”

Kane chuckles. "My pleasure." He places his hand on Thomas' shoulder. "Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight."

Thomas nods, walking into the guest bedroom. “Goodnight.”


	8. Adrift

 

> **And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid**  
>  **I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did**  
>  **I've been spending the last eight months**  
>  **Thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end**  
>  **...**  
>  **I watched it begin again**

~ “Begin Again”, Taylor Swift

"So... Where are you taking us exactly?" Simon asks as Thomas drives his car with the Chipmunks in the back seat and Dave in the front passenger's seat.

"Yeah, I'm wondering that myself," Dave adds as he goes over files in his hands.

"We're all taking a pit stop at Hollywood University," Thomas replies as they pull into the parking lot. He parks in front of the directing major building. "I'm only heading there to pick up a few files of my own while all of you are going to the main conference room. You guys were in need of a director for your first music video, right?"

The three chipmunks in the back seat nod.

"I found two that will hopefully work together and will listen to any ideas you have, okay?" Thomas opens his car door as the others exit the car. "The others will be here within moments. Once we all get inside the building, the conference room is right across the hall from the entrance. Wait for me there."

Dave nods. "Okay, will do."

Thomas goes off on his own path and heads up to his office.

Leading the six chipmunks into the conference room, Dave realizes there's two familiar faces in there already.

"Danny? Ethan? What are you two doing here?" Dave asks.

"Well, if my calculations are correct," Simon quickly starts to answer, "Danny has to be one of our directors."

"But Ethan's not a director, though," Jeanette interjects.

"He's here for moral support."

"Wow, I've never been in here before," Amy says quietly, Bree and Karlie behind her.

Bree nods as she looked around in awe picking Karlie up in her arms.

Ethan chuckles. "Hey, Red. Hey, Lil' Red."

Karlie smiles and waves at him. "Hi, Ewin!"

The six chipmunks are talking hushedly in the corner about their ideas as Thomas returns into the conference room. "Sorry about that, everyone."

Harrison nods. "What's going on?"

Thomas sighs, putting the files down on the table as he sits down.

Dave turns to Harrison. "The Chipmunks and Chipettes are filming their first music video.”

Harrison nods. "Ahh alright. Who's directing it?"

Ethan chuckles. "Well, I'm dating one of the directors."

Danny playfully shoves Ethan. "Hush."

Thomas takes a deep breath. "Archie is directing as well." He sighs. "And he's late."

As if on cue, Archie walks in, a plate covered in aluminum foil in his hands. He waves. "Hiya, so sorry I'm late." He puts down the plate. "I heard I was working with children, so I always try and bake something before directors' meetings." He pulls away the tin foil to reveal chocolate chip cookies.

Theodore's eyes light up.

Karlie blinks. "Cookies!"

Archie slides a cookie over to each of them.

Thomas chuckles. "Okay, now that everyone is here, we can start the meeting." He turns to Dave. "Now, what was the plan for the setting of the video?"

Dave smiles. "We were actually thinking about maybe doing this at an orphanage. If we brought a surprise party to all of the kids, we'd just film all of them enjoying themselves."

Unable to contain his wide smile, Thomas nods. "I like that a lot."

Kane nods in agreement. "That sounds like a great idea."

Thomas nods again. "Then it's settled. Next stop: Hollywood Hills Orphanage."

* * *

"Wow, for an orphanage, this place looks a little high-class," Brittany says in surprise.

"A **little** high-class?" Alvin retorts.

"Calm down, both of you," Thomas says sternly, leading the group up the walkway to find another familiar face.

Theodore and Eleanor gasp. "Payton!" They both rush up to give the girl a hug.

Payton looks over and giggles. "Hi guys!"

Letting out a soft smile as Payton joins the group, Thomas leads the group inside the orphanage.

All of the kids - there's about one hundred of them - sit on the main foyer stairs and cheer as soon as they see the Chipmunks.

Thomas is suddenly a little overwhelmed. "Holy..."

"Relax," Amy says, putting a hand on Thomas's shoulder as they both watch Alvin start to schmooze with the kids.

Kane walked up to the two and nodded. "You'll be okay."

Suddenly, the owner of the orphanage steps down after the sea of children parts for him. Someone is walking next to him - someone all too familiar.

Thomas scowls. "And to **what** , exactly, do I owe the pleasure of finding **you** here, Anders?"

Anders lets out a slightly distorted laugh. "Oh, Thomas, it's quite simple really," the drunken patriarch replies. "My daughter and her friends must be in the music video, or I can promise that all of your careers are ruined."

His face hardening, Thomas successfully hides his scared gulp. "Fine." He crosses his arms.

Amy, Archie, Danny and Ethan visibly gulp.

Bree looks worried, cradling Karlie to her chest. "Why? This is for kids..."

Thomas sighs. "Honestly, we have no choice... Anders has enough power to ruin the career of everyone in this room... We have to do it."

"Glad you see things Daddy's way," Bianca says as she enters the room, Lance's arm wrapped around her stiff one and Shae and Jenni flanking them - all of them wearing somewhat nostalgic childhood outfits.

Amy takes a deep breath, suddenly getting an idea. "I'll be right back. I have to make a phone call." She walks out of the room, dialing a number.

Thomas sighs to himself. "We're doomed..."

* * *

About two hours later, while the party is finishing its setup phase, Thomas paces the inside of the tour bus and taking deep breaths trying to keep himself calm.

Bree sits on the couch, watching him as Karlie is sleeping in a playpen set up a few inches away from her. "Please stop pacing."

Thomas sighs, finally sitting down next to Bree. "Why does Anders have to ruin this for them...?"

"I wouldn't count us all out just yet, you two," Amy says as she gets onto the bus. "Let's just say... Simon and I talked, and we put together a little something I like to call a 'Permanent Wound' reunion.”

Just outside the bus, Chris Winters and Zoe are chatting over something, each having a water bottle in one hand and nothing in the other.

Thomas's jaw drops. "How-"

"Let's just say they both owe Desiree a favor," Amy explains.

Bree smiles. "Go out there, Thomas."

Thomas smiles and offers out his hand. “Come with me?”

Bree nods and blushes softly, grabbing his hand.

Amy smiles. “Come on, we have a music video to shoot.” She leads them outside, quickly shaking Zoe’s hand and giving Chris a hug. “Thank you guys so much for doing this.”

Zoe nods. “Of course. Anything to get Bree’s ass out of a bind like having Bianca in a music video.”

Bree blushes. "Shut up, Zoe..."

Chris waves Zoe off. “She’s just joking, Bree.”

Zoe chuckles and winks at Bree.

Thomas shakes his head. “So, what are we doing to save this video?”

“One word,” Zoe replies, pulling something out of her pocket. “Paintball.”

Bree raises an eyebrow. "Not another bridal party paintball fight..."

“You won’t be in it unless you want to. It’s mainly the kids that are old enough to do it.” Zoe smiles. “Besides, I remember how your sweet little ass did at the last game.”

“Zoe…” Chris says with a sigh.

Thomas looks at Chris and shakes his head in slight frustration.

Bree blushes again and stutters out, "I-I think Karlie's waking up!" She quickly goes into the bus.

Amy sighs. “Wait for me, love.”

Right when both women are gone, Thomas glares at Zoe. “Happy?”

Zoe quickly holds up her hands in defense. “I-”

“Leave,” Thomas tells her sharply.

“You really want me to-”

Thomas folds his arms. “I said go. Don’t leave the premises, but just don’t bother Bree.”

Zoe sighs. “Fine, if that’s what you want.” She backs away before turning and heading over to go and find the Chipettes.

Calming down, Thomas looks to Chris. “Has this… happened before?”

Chris nods. "Yeah, of course it has; Zoe means no harm by it, though."

Thomas sighs deeply. “I know she does, but if she’s going to do it, she needs to tone it down a few levels…” He motions toward the bus. “C’mon, let’s go check on her.”

Chris nods, following Thomas in. "Invite Zoe in... It'll be okay. I'll keep her in check."

“If you insist…” Thomas turns to Zoe. “Come in here!”

Zoe turns around quickly; nodding, she runs over, following Thomas and Chris inside.

Bree paces the bus, taking deep breaths and trying to calm her blushing.

Amy looks to her, concerned. “It’s going to be okay, love.”

Thomas goes to the back area where Bree is pacing. “Bree, I’m sorry she’s… doing what she’s doing.” He sighs. “Are you going to do the paintball challenge?” Seeing a confused look on Bree’s face, he explains. “Basically the kids are split into two teams: boys versus girls. Whomever gets more of Bianca’s entourage wins first dibs at the pizza party later.” His eyes soften. “Are you interested...?”

Bree bites her lip before nodding slowly. "Well, alright..." She looks at the four of them.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. We’ll understand if you would rather spend time with Karlie.”

Bree shakes her head and gives a small smile. "It's okay. I'll do it." She slowly looks at Zoe.

Zoe sighs. “I’ll calm down with the… you know…” She sighs again, her eyes sad. “I promise.”

Bree shakes her head and frowns. "You don't have to, Zoe. Go ahead. I don't want you to be sad because of me being flustered. It's just how we click."

Zoe shakes her head. “I’m not sad. I just… I know that I pushed you. I won’t stop, but I’ll tone it down. We have bigger fish to fry than each other.”

Thomas nods. “Like Bianca and Anders.”

Bree walks over and hugs Zoe around the waist, looking up at the taller girl. "I'm alright. I'm not fragile. I get flustered, but I'll be okay." She gives her a smile before letting go. "Alright, what do I do?"

Zoe smiles. “Well first, you need to suit up.” She hands Bree a vest. “Put this on. We’re using much softer paint stuff for the kids.”

Bree smiles. "Tie me up?" She slides the vest on.

“Of course.” Zoe ties Bree’s vest up in the back before tossing her a helmet. “You’ll need that, arm pads, and knee pads.”

Bree nods before chuckling, whispering under her breath. "Kinky Zoe." She winks and ties her hair up, loosely putting the helmet on.

Zoe laughs.

Thomas gulps visibly. “Am… Am I going to have to do that...?”

"Do what, Thomas?" Bree looked over at him.

“The paintball challenge… When they brought up the idea, I wasn’t sure if I had to do it…”

Chris shakes his head, putting his helmet on. "Not at all. You can sit this one out, Thomas."

Smiling, Thomas lets out a sigh. “I’ll watch Karlie for now. You guys go have fun.” He chuckles. “I’m getting live-feeds from Archie and Danny’s cameras anyway, so there’s not much for me to do.”

Bree nods and kisses his cheek. "See you soon!" Bree grabs Amy's hand. "Ready?"

Amy nods. “Hell yeah!”

Bree giggles and looks at Zoe. "Ready? I'm on your team, right? You could probably kick my ass if I wasn't."

Zoe nods. “Well, it is boys versus girls.”

Chris laughs nervously, turning to Thomas. “Are ya sure you can’t join me…?”

Thomas chuckles and shakes his head, picking Karlie up slowly. “Not a chance.”

“Damn…”

Karlie rubs her eyes and yawn, laying her head on Thomas' shoulder. "Good morning!" She yawns again, slowly falling back to sleep.

Thomas chuckles, sitting down with Karlie’s head on his shoulder as the others leave the tour bus.

He’s not really sure what to do. He knows he has to keep a close watch over Karlie, but he’s unsure whether to wake her up.

Karlie rubs her eyes again a little while later. "Momma?"

Thomas shakes his head. “She’s with Amy right now. She’ll be back soon.”

Karlie yawns and looks up at him. "Mommy Amy gone too? Daddy and Daddy Warbucks?"

“All of them are right outside, sweetheart,” Thomas replies.

Karlie nods and yawns again. "You Tom and Jerry?" She looks up at him again.

Thomas chuckles. “Tom, yes. Jerry, no.” He sits her on his leg. “Are you okay?”

Karlie nods and gives him a smile. "Sippy? Juice, Tom and Jerry?" She points towards the cup sitting on the small table.

“Oh! Of course.” Thomas carries Karlie over and sits her on the table, handing her the cup. “Better?”

She giggles and nods, taking it slowly in her hands and taking a sip. "Mmm, yummy apples... Watch Universe, Tom and Jerry!" She tries getting off the table.

Thomas looks at her confused before he realizes what she’s talking about, picking her up. “Don’t try to get off the table without me to hold you.” He takes her over to the couch, turning the television to the channel showing Steven Universe.

She claps, crawling over to the edge of the couch and sitting there, sipping her juice with eyes locked on the television. "Yay! Tank you, Tom and Jerry!"

“Of course.” Thomas sits and watches her for a few moments, mostly in awe that a little girl as young as Karlie could be so smart. She was already talking  - uncommon but not unheard of for a one-and-a-half-year-old.

Karlie looks over at Thomas and grinned. " _Me gustas!_ You're really nice, Tom and Jerry." She turns back to the screen.

Thomas pulls Karlie into his lap. “So are you.”

Karlie giggles and kisses his cheek. "Can we go find Momma, Mommy Amy, and Daddies?"

Not really knowing how to tell her about the possibility that she could get hurt, Thomas takes a deep breath. “Have you heard of paintball, Karlie?”

Karlies eyes widen in excitement. "Yeah huh! Daddy took me once!" She stands up in his lap putting her hands over his mouth. "Shhhhh, I wasn't suppose to say! Don't tell Mommy!"

Thomas chuckles. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. But if we go, they’ll figure out you told me. So if you don’t want to disappoint your parents, we can’t go, okay?”

She pouts. "But I wanna see Mommy and Daddy...."

Both of them hear a knock at the door.

Thomas immediately pulls Karlie into his arms and stands up, going over to open the door.

Bree smiles. "There's my little girl!"

Karlie giggles. "Momma!" She reaches out excitedly for Bree while Thomas holds her. "Tom and Jerry, let me go!"

Thomas sighs at the nickname, handing Karlie over to Bree. "D'you get eliminated?"

Bree laughs and cradles Karlie to her, kissing her head and nodding. "Unfortunately. Tom and Jerry?" She raises an eyebrow at Thomas.

"Don't ask," is all Thomas can reply. "I don't know where it came from."

Karlie giggles. "Momma said his name Thomas... Uncle Tom and Jerry, like the show, Momma!"

Thomas blushes softly. "She gets really creative with these names..."

Bree giggles. "That's true; she does call Harri 'Daddy Warbucks'. " She kisses her head gently. "But you're Mommy's baby. And I love you." She kisses her nose gently.

Karlie giggles. "I love you too, Momma."

Thomas sits down on the couch, looking at Bree. "How much longer before Kane's done, do you think?"

"About fifteen more minutes?" She sits next to him, handing Karlie her sippy cup and shifting her so her back rested against her chest. "He takes this seriously."

"I bet he does." Thomas closes his eyes and leans back on the couch. "I... actually need to talk to him."

Bree nods and yawns. "Text him. My phone is on the couch. C'mon, baby. Nap time."

Karlie nods and snuggles into Bree. "Okay, Momma. Bye, Uncle Tom and Jerry." She yawns as Bree carried her to the back room where there happened to be a bed, cuddling into the blanket and Bree's chest as they drifted to sleep.

Thomas smiles at the two as they enter the back room, picking Bree's phone up and gingerly holding it in his hand as he texted Kane:

**Hi. I hope you're not cornered somewhere where someone can find you and shoot you. I was hoping to talk to you if you weren't busy. --Thomas**

Kane feels his phone buzz and quickly ducks behind something, pulling it out.

**Hey. Yeah, I'm fine. What's wrong? Is something wrong with Karlie and Bree? Both?**

Thomas quickly types back.

 **No, nothing is wrong. I do need to talk to you, but if you're busy, I can wait.**  
  
Although delayed, he gets a reply.

 **No, no, I'm fine. I'm already jogging back to the bus, haha.**  
  
Thomas chuckles.

 **Did you lose?**  
  
An answer comes quicker this time.

**Naw; I forfeited. I missed my daughter and Bree anyway.**

Kane walks into the bus. "What's up, Thomas?"

Startled and almost dropping Bree's phone, Thomas's eyes widen and he blushes the slightest hint of pink as he places Bree's phone down on the coffee table. "C-crap, you scared me..."

Kane chuckles. "Sorry. What's on your mind?"

Thomas takes a deep breath. "I'll start with the lighter of the two things I wanted to say: Karlie started calling me 'Tom and Jerry' earlier."

Kane chuckles and shakes his head. "It means she likes you, so good job."

"I figured as much." Thomas lets out another breath. "Now, the other thing I wanted to talk to you about..." He closes his eyes for a moment as he leans back in the couch. "Ever since that night that you let us stay over a few weeks ago... I can't get you off of my mind lately." He sighs. "I don't know how likely the chances are of you and Bree getting back together are, and yet..." He sighs again. "And yet if you aren't, I can only imagine how angry Bree would be if you were... If you were dating... someone like me..." The words fall out of his mouth awkwardly, and he seems... afraid.

Kane sits down next to him. "I don't think she'd be angry.… I know; we have a child together, and that might push more for us to get back together - and honestly, I wouldn't mind if we did. She's the mother of my child, and I love her; but that doesn't mean it will happen. Which means I shouldn't feel bad for doing this." He places his hand over Thomas' and leans in, kissing him slowly.

Thomas is taken by surprise, his eyes widening a little before fully closing them, kissing Kane back.

After a few slow passion-filled moment, Kane pulls away and looks at Thomas. "I care about you, Thomas; if that brings a date along with it, I wouldn't mind."

A soft smile forming on his lips, Thomas turns his hand to hold Kane’s in his own before rubbing his thumb over the back of Kane’s hand. “I care about you too, Kane.” He takes a deep breath and chuckles. “I was sort of already halfway there with Karlie.”

Kane chuckles and raises an eyebrow. "Oh? Tell me what did you two talk about?"

Thomas shrugs. “Mostly she just watched that Steven Universe show that’s on around this time every day. And I’m still coming to terms with the fact that technically I have two names now.”

Kane chuckles again and nods. "You're going to be stuck with that name for a while, too."

"I can tell."

"Are you guys-" Simon starts to ask as he opens the door to the tour bus before he turns to face Thomas and sees his hand holding Kane's. A small smile forms on his face. "Sorry, I came in to round you guys up for the afterparty."

Thomas raises an eyebrow. "Afterparty?"

Kane raises an eyebrow as well. "The pizza one?"

Simon quickly nods in reply. "Where are Bree and Karlie?"

"Taking a nap," Thomas replies. "I'm not sure if we should wake them up..."

Kane checks his phone. "Give it another fifteen minutes. Karlie usually wakes up around 3."

Simon nods quickly. "Okay, um... I'll leave you guys be for a little while..." He slowly closes the door.

It's only then that Thomas remembers that Kane's hand is still in his, and he blushes, not pulling his hand away. "I-I guess we have the next fifteen minutes to ourselves then..."

Kane smiles and nods. "Are you alright, Thomas?"

Thomas nods. "Y-yes, I'm fine."

Both of them hear chuckling coming from the front door of the bus before, "Uncle Thomas has a boyf- Ow! Simon, what the heck?"

"You need to learn not to eavesdrop, Alvin," Simon says matter-of-factly. "Now shoo."

Alvin groans. "Buzzkill..."

Simon pokes his head inside the bus, as does Jeanette.

"I'm so sorry Alvin kind of acted like an imbecile," Simon says before he sighs. "We'll, uh... We'll go now."

"No, it's fine," Thomas replies. "You can wait in here."

Suddenly a small whine comes from the back room, and Bree emerges carrying Karlie, who was whining and rubbing her eyes.

Karlie lays her head on Bree's shoulder and whines again. "Mommy, I'm hungry..."

Without a second thought, Simon walks over and hops onto the counter to look at Karlie. “You’re just in time. The pizza party is starting.” He sees Karlie’s cup right next to him. “You want this too, Karlie?”

Karlie smiles and nods, reaching for it. "Pleaseee."

Simon grabs the cup with both hands and gives it to her. “There you go.”

Karlie smiles and holds it close. "Thank you, Si Si!"

“Of course.” Simon hops off the counter. “Do you want to walk with me and Jeanette?”

Karlie nods happily and climbs out of Bree's arms. "Let's go!"

Simon gently grabs one of Karlie’s hands as Jeanette grabs the other before they start to walk.

Thomas watches the sight with a soft smile.

Bree gives a small smile and grabs her phone, stretching and laughing softly as Karlie told Simon all about her dream.

“Simon and Karlie got attached more quickly than I ever anticipated,” Thomas says in surprise.

Kane chuckles and nods, slipping his phone into his pocket. "He's nice to her. I think she grows fond of people who are close to the adults in her life."

“Are you guys coming or what?” Simon asks from a few yards away.

Thomas chuckles, standing up. “Of course we are.” He grabs both Bree and Kane’s hands out of instinct, and when the action registers in his head, he blushes brightly.

Bree smiles and stands on her toes, giving him a kiss on the cheek as she tugs him along.

Kane chuckles. "Don't be embarrassed."

After a moment or so, Thomas eases up a bit as they rejoin the others at the afterparty.

“I still can’t believe you got that Bianca girl,” Jeanette tells Simon.

“Hey, I got lucky,” Simon replies, “I was aiming for her dad.”

Thomas chuckles to himself as he overhears the story.

Karlie giggles. "Oooh paintball!! Can I play next time???"

Simon shrugs at her. “That’s up to your mom and dad. I can’t really give you an answer, but if they’re okay letting you play, of course. We’ll just have to use mini water balloons to hold the paint instead of the regular capsules.”

Karlie looks back at Bree. "Pleaseee, Mommy?"

Bree bites her lip. "Well... If it's safe, then alright, baby girl."

Karlie cheers. "Yay!"

Simon brings Karlie and Jeanette over to the kids table as he helps them get pizza.

Thomas realizes he’s still holding onto both of their hands and he blushes again. “So… Are either of you wondering… about what’s going on with us, exactly?”

Bree slowly grabs herself a slice and looks at the two "Maybe slightly..."

"I mean...  I care a lot about both of you, but I just... I don't know what to do here." Thomas sits down and takes a breath, grabbing a water bottle and opening it before taking a rushed sip.

Kane sighs, running a hand through his hair. "This seems to be a bit complicated; maybe we should just relax and talk about this another time?"

Thomas nods. "Yes. I'd rather just talk about this when we're all back at your place." He blushes again. "If you'll have us, of course."

Kane chuckles. "Honestly, I don't mind; and Karlie loves you guys, which is the main thing. You're always welcome."

Smiling, Thomas makes himself comfortable between Bree and Kane, leaving the impending conversation alone until they're all ready to talk about it.


	9. Shining Stars

> All this time, I was finding myself and I  
> I didn't know I was lost

~ "Wake Me Up", Avicii

“Bree, I think there’s something here for you.”

Amy flips through the mail as they’re all lounging at Kane’s place, sitting next to Bree and handing her an envelope with her name in bright pink calligraphy.

Bree blinks and takes it. "For me? What is it?" She opens the envelope slowly.

Harrison’s eyes widen. “Holy cow, it’s an invite to Victoria’s annual Women’s Empowerment Dinner!” He smiles as he reads the letter quickly over Bree’s shoulder. “And you’re the guest of honor this year, Bree!”

Bree looks at him in disbelief, the letter not registering fast enough. "W-What?"

Amy takes a look at the letter for herself. “Remember that photo shoot we did for the Femme Fatale issue of Seventeen Magazine? It’s in honor of that, and Victoria picked you for Woman of the Year!”

Bree blushes and rereads the letter. "But why me?"

“God only knows,” Harrison replies before looking at Amy.

“Must’ve been Cass, I think,” Amy replies. “You’ve had such a huge year this year, Bree. I don’t think any of us are surprised.”

Bree blushes again. "Wow I-I can't believe it..."

Amy and Harrison kiss Bree on the cheeks. After pulling away, they both realize something.

“Isn’t that… tonight?” Amy asks.

Harrison visibly panics. “Oh crap!”

“Language!” Thomas yells from the other room.

“Sorry… but yeah, we better get our butts in gear if you’re gonna be there tonight!” Harrison smiles. “Good thing Caesar always has a back-up wardrobe in his car.”

As the hustle starts to pick up, Brittany goes over to Karlie. “Hiya, Karlie. Can we talk to you for a minute?”

Karlie sets down her book and teddy bear she was reading to and nods, smiling. "Otay!"

Brittany grabs Karlie’s hand and leads her into another room, where all of the other chipmunks are sitting around sheet music on the floor. “We all talked, and we want you to sing our new song with us.”

Karlie looks at them confused. "Sing?"

“Yeah!” Alvin responds. “We want to surprise your mom, and what better way than have you sing our new song with us on stage?”

Eleanor stands up. “You don’t have to sing lines all by yourself if you don’t want to, but we want you up there with us.”

“We wanna make you an honorary Chipette,” Brittany adds.

Karlie giggles. "I don't know how! Never tried...."

Theodore frowns. “Maybe you can play the maracas or something?”

Simon chuckles and pats Theodore’s head. “There’s no maracas in the song, Theodore, but nice try.” He looks at Karlie. “How about you dance with us instead?”

Karlie giggles and nods. "I wanna try singing and dancing!"

“Awesome!” Alvin cheers and goes over to hug Karlie. “Who do you wanna dance with?”

Karlie smiles. "You, Alwin!"

Simon chuckles as he watches Alvin hold Karlie.

“Okay! We’ll teach you the song!” Alvin looks to the group. “Places, everybody!”  
  


* * *

 

Thomas slowly fixes the cuff on his suit later that night before the dinner, checking himself once over in the mirror.

Bree pats down her long black dress and looks up nervously. "Do I look okay?”

Slowly turning around, Thomas pauses as he looks at Bree for a moment. “You look… beautiful.”

Bree blushes. "Thank you."

Thomas walks over and wraps his arms around Bree’s waist. “Are you okay?”

Bree nods and leans her head on his chest. "J-Just nervous."

“Don’t be. Everything is going to be okay. You don’t have to make a speech or anything, so try not to be nervous, okay?”

Bree nods and cups his cheek, kissing his other cheek softly. "Thank you."

Thomas smiles. “Of course.” He brushes back Bree’s hair. “Now, go ahead - Amy and Harrison are waiting on you.”

Bree smiles and lets go of him, walking over to the two.

"You still love her." Kane stands behind him after watching the exchange.

Thomas nods nervously. "Of course I do." He sighs. "I always will even though I'm not with her... but she's better off with Amy."

Kane raises an eyebrow. "Why'd you let her go?"

"Because I thought I wasn't good enough for her." Thomas closes his eyes for a second. "I thought that once she realized that, she'd leave me for someone better. She has everything going for her, and I didn't want to screw that up."

Kane sighs. "You screwed up you know."

Thomas nods slowly. "I know..."

Kane touches his shoulder. "She's talking to you. It's a start. We can't tell where it'll go from here."

Letting out a deep breath, Thomas turns to face Kane. "What about you...?"

Kane raises an eyebrow. "Me?"

Thomas sighs. "Well, there's always a chance she'll go back to you, right? I mean, you do have Karlie together... and I don't want either of you alone. You both deserve to be happy, and if the person you're both happy with isn't me... then so be it. I won't stand in your way..."

Kane sighs and rubs a hand over his neck. "I love her; always will and we have Karlie together; she's the mother of my child… hell, I'd have more children with her. It's up to her. She knows if she ever wants me, I'm here for here; and like I said at the music video shoot, until she speaks up, I don't think she'd mind too much of the small things."

Nodding, Thomas adjusts his cuff links nervously. "I just... I don't know what to do right now. I love Bree, and I... I really like you too, but I'm not going to stand in either of your ways for you both to be happy."

Kane leans down and kisses Thomas softly. "I like you too. C’mon. We've got to get going. "

Thomas nods again. "Right, of course."

Kane grabs his hand, tugging him to the car.

* * *

 

The bus finally pulls up to Victoria Swenson’s mansion, completely lit up in bright neon lights.

Amy leads Bree and Harrison out of the bus, dressed in a silver dress and matching flats. “Doesn’t this place look awesome?”

Bree takes a deep breath. "It's beautiful..."

Harrison looks at Bree, fixing one of the flowers in her hair. “Are you okay?”

Bree nods and bites her lip. "I'm alright..."

Amy looks at her curiously. “Are you sure, love…? You don’t seem okay...”

Bree blushes. "Nervous..."

“Don’t be!” Brittany says cheerfully. “You look fabulous!”

“She’s right,” Theodore adds. “You look so pretty, Miss Bree.”

Bree smiles. "Thank you."

Amy giggles. “Hey, look at Karlie!” She points to the little girl, who’s wearing the same matching outfit as the Chipettes except with a red rose in her hair.

Bree beams proudly and leans down, holding her arms out and scooping Karlie up when she runs into them, standing up tall in her six inch heels. "Ooh, Mommy's baby girl looks so beautiful!" She kisses her nose gently.

Karlie giggles and hugs Bree closely. "You look pretty to momma!!"

Caesar quickly picks Theodore up. “Good luck tonight, you guys. We actually get to hear the song this time.”

“I know,” Amy replies as she pats Alvin’s head.

Kane chuckles. "You guys will do amazing."

Alvin smiles. “You know it!”

“Save the ego for the stage, Alvin,” Simon replies. “We need to set up.”

“Last one to the backstage door is a rotten egg!” Alvin yells before he goes off running.

Sighing in frustration, Simon watches as the others rush inside. He offers his hand out to Karlie. “We need you, remember?”

Karlie nods excitedly and kisses Bree's cheek before wiggling out of her arms, grabbing Simon's hand and waving at her. "Bye, Mama! C’mon, Si Si."

Latching his arm around Karlie’s, Simon leads her backstage.

Amy takes a look around the extensive foyer, leading them to the table meant for Bree to sit at, along with anyone else she brought along.

Cass and Victoria wave from the stage, both dressed in matching suits.

Quietly, Amy waves back as they all sit down.

Bree sits down, looking around in awe. "This is amazing..."

“Well, it is for you,” Thomas replies as he sits down. “Of course they’d pull out all the stops.”

Bree blushes and grabs his hand under the table, squeezing it.

Thomas rubs his thumb over Bree’s fingers. “Do you need to talk to me?” he mouths to her.

Bree shakes her head and squeezes his hand again, mouthing back. "I'm nervous."

“Do you want to go somewhere for a minute and talk about it?”

Bree takes a deep breath and nods.

Thomas excuses himself, latching his arm onto Bree’s as he leads her out into a hallway. “What are you nervous about, Bree...?”

Bree curls into his body, pressing her face to his chest and her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. "I-I'm scared. Why me?"

“What do you mean ‘why you’?” Thomas sits Bree down. “Bree, you’ve done so many amazing things since you’ve moved here. Hell, you’ve done more things in the past few years than I’ve done in my lifetime so far.” He sits down next to her. “What’s wrong?”

Bree sighs and looks at her hands. "W-Why did they pick me? I'm scared that once I get up there and accept the award everyone will realize I don't deserve it."

Thomas sighs, wrapping an arm around her. “Bree, you deserve this. I… I wouldn’t have submitted your name if I didn’t think you deserved it.” He blushes slightly. “You deserve the world, and even if I’m not with you, I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.” He tilts her head up so their eyes lock. “Please believe me.”

Bree gasps, her breath catching. "Y-You set this up?"

“I sent in your name, but I wasn’t part of the final decision.” Thomas feels tears threaten to fill his eyes. “And I would do it all again if I could.”

Bree strokes his cheek gently before pulling him in for a kiss.

Thomas kisses her back softly, wrapping both of his arms around her waist.

Bree pulls away slowly after a while and takes a deep breath.

“Are you feeling any better?” Thomas asks, not moving his arms from around Bree’s waist.

Bree nods and blushes. "Much. C'mon." She stands up and grabs his hand.

Thomas takes a deep breath. “Wait.” He sighs. “I need to talk to you about something.” He gently pulls Bree back into his arms. “Are we… What exactly is going on between us? It’s been on my mind a lot lately, and I’m not pushing you or anything, but… the sooner I know, the sooner we can do what we have to do.”

Bree looks up at the taller male she had fallen in love with two years ago. "I am in love with you Thomas Hunt." She grabs his hands. "I never stopped loving you, I-I just don't know where we stand;" She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes. "When you told me you didn't want me anymore, I-I was crushed. It took me back to all those times in high school and I felt like a child again." She looks up at him, small tears in her eyes. "But throughout the last two years since our breakup, I  **never** stopped loving you."

“I never stopped loving you either.” Thomas leans his forehead on hers, wiping away her tears. “And I’m so sorry.” He sighs, tears in his own eyes now. “I-I don’t want to take you away from Amy and Harrison i-if you’re happy with them.”

Bree wipes his tears away and kisses him again, slowly molding herself against his chest.

Thomas kisses Bree back softly, feeling the warmth of her body against his before slowly and reluctantly pulling away. “So… what exactly is going to happen with us… between all of us...?”

Bree takes a deep breath. "I-I'm not sure."

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Thomas kisses Bree’s forehead. “Are you happy with Amy and Harrison?”

Bree nods and takes another deep breath. "I am. I am very happy with them... but I miss Kane and I miss you."

Thomas nods. “I understand.” He holds Bree in his arms. “Maybe… Maybe all of us can stay at Kane’s place? I can give my apartment to Miss Miller and we can all stay with him.” He takes a deep breath. “I-I know it’s only been a couple of weeks, but I’ve known most of you for years already. It... It won’t be too much, would it?”

Bree smiles and shakes her head. "Of course not. We'll mention it to him afterwards."

“Sounds good to me.” Thomas pulls Bree in for one last quick kiss before they head back to the table.

Bree giggles, and as they reached the door, she pulls him into a long sensual kiss.

Thomas wraps his arms around Bree, kissing her back and gently leaning her against the door.

Bree gasps and bites her lip, pulling away and panting.

"S-sorry, was that too much...?" Thomas blushes, his eyes full of concern.

Bree shakes her head. "Not at all."

Thomas smiles softly as his hand reaches for the door. "I love you, Bree."

Bree squeezes his hand and walks out with him, smiling.

As soon as they both sit down, Victoria and Cass walk up to the podium on the stage. They both start to talk about the recent projects that Bree has done and go on for about five minutes before they finally announce Bree as the recipient of the Woman of the Year Award.

Just before Bree can stand up, a small voice cries out, "Wait!" From behind the curtain, Karlie runs out. "I get for you, Momma!" She rushes over and reaches out for the small statue. After Victoria kneels down and hands it to her, she starts to wobble a little. "Bit Bit, help me!"

Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor come rushing out and all help Karlie bring the trophy to Bree.

Bree giggles and bends down, scooping Karlie into her arms and kissing her nose affectionately. "Thank you, princess."

Harrison high-fives Brittany under the table.

Victoria announces for the Chipmunks and Chipettes to come on stage, and both groups come up and sit on the stools on stage.

Alvin stands on his stool, a wide smirk on his face as he waves.

Simon has Karlie sit with him on his stool, holding her so she's comfortable.

Theodore and Eleanor sit next to each other, holding each other's hand and gently swinging their arms.

Brittany sits with her legs crossed, fluffing her ponytail.

Jeanette fiddles with her fingers as she gives a soft smile to the crowd.

"So," Cass begins from the other side of the stage, "you guys have a new single, right?"

"Heck yeah!" Alvin answers. "We just filmed the music video last week!"

"When is the new album coming out?" Victoria inquires.

"Honestly, we don't know yet," Brittany replies. "It's not completely done yet, so we have no idea."

Cass nods. "Let's talk about the new single itself - how did you guys come up with the idea for the song exactly?"

The group quickly looks between each other before Eleanor chimes up. "Well, usually Alvin or Brittany have the ability to write the lyrics for a song idea one of us may have and the rest of us sort of make up the beat for it. This time, Simon actually came up with the lyrics."

Victoria looks at Simon. "You wrote this song by yourself?"

Simon nods. "It's very strange because despite being the budding writer of the group, I've never really come up with any song lyrics of my own before. After some recent events, though, the process has just been sort of... effortless."

"What kind of recent events?"

Looking right at Thomas, Simon takes a deep breath. "I'd rather not say. It's a private matter, and I don't want to embarrass anyone."

Thomas doesn't know what to say, watching them in awe.

Cass smiles. "Well, let's hear this song, then."

All six chipmunks and Karlie stand up and move the stools aside. Brittany gives the count in for the music as Alvin holds Karlie's hand and starts dancing with her when the music starts. After a few counts, the singing starts.

**[Alvin (with Brittany):]  
Some days are tough  
(And you just can't take it)**

**[(Simon) with Jeanette and Karlie:]  
(You wanna give up)  
Because you just don't think  
That you can make it**

**[Theodore (with Eleanor):]  
But everyone knows  
(That in the end, you'll be okay)**

**[Brittany (with Jeanette and Eleanor):]  
These things come and go  
(Tomorrow's always gonna be a better day)**

**[All 7:]  
Hang tight, just hold on  
Get up, you know you gotta push on  
Just know tomorrow  
You will see it'll be so much easier  
So, be strong - yeah, move on  
Chin up, bad things won't be there for long  
So say "it's okay"  
'Cause tomorrow the shadow will go away**

**[Simon:]  
So why does it seem  
Like everything inside you hurts?**

**[Jeanette (with the Chipmunks):]  
You just can't believe  
(How it always goes from bad to worse)**

**[Eleanor (with Theodore):]  
And just when you think  
(That you've had all you can take)**

**[The Chipmunks (with Karlie and the Chipettes):]  
Just pick up your head  
(Tomorrow's always gonna be a better day)**

**[All 7:]  
Hang tight, just hold on  
Get up, you know you gotta push on  
Just know tomorrow  
You will see it'll be so much easier  
So, be strong - yeah, move on  
Chin up, bad things won't be there for long  
So say "it's okay"  
'Cause tomorrow the shadow will go away**

**Hang tight, just hold on  
Get up, you know you gotta push on  
Just know tomorrow  
You will see it'll be so much easier  
So, be strong - yeah, move on  
Chin up, bad things won't be there for long  
So say "it's okay"  
'Cause tomorrow the shadow will go away**

Bree smiles and cheers for them; and when they come off stage, she gives them a hug. "I'm so proud of all of you."

“Thank you!” Brittany replies.

Eleanor and Theodore cling to Bree’s legs.

Bree smiles and looks at them.

“W-We wanted to spend tonight with you…” Theodore tells her as Caesar picks Eleanor up.

Bree smiles and nods. "I'd love that."

Thomas feels a tug on his pant leg and looks down to see Simon looking up at him with wide eyes, blushing a bit.

“Simon, what’s wrong?” Thomas whispers, turning to face him.

At first, Simon doesn’t reply to the question and glances down at his feet.

“I-I... “ Simon begins after a while, still sheepish. “I hope I didn’t upset you by making the song. I-I honestly couldn’t help it… I wasn’t gonna publish it at first, b-but Alvin saw it on accident and thought it was a hit. He insisted on using it for the album, and-”

“Simon,” Thomas interrupts, adjusting the chipmunk’s glasses, “it’s okay. I’m not upset.” He lifts Simon up into his arms. “In fact, I’m really proud of you. You… You turned what I went through when we first met into something positive.” He hugs Simon to his chest. “I couldn’t be any happier with you than I am right now.”

“You’ve said that before, you know,” Simon says with a chuckle.

Thomas smiles and shakes his head, whispering, “Don’t be a smartass.”

Both of them laugh a little harder at that.

Amy elbows Harrison, nodding subtly toward Simon and Thomas. “Look.”

Harrison smiles and nods. "Seems they've hit it off."

Thomas slowly holds Simon to his chest again and takes off his glasses. He latches the glasses onto his dress shirt as Simon closes his eyes.

For the first time since the Chipmunks arrived, Thomas is completely speechless for at least a moment. He feels Simon relax warmly into his chest, and… were there tears starting to form in his eyes? He kisses Simon on the top of of his head as he hears the chipmunk’s breathing start to even out.

Bree smiles. "C’mon. Let's go home early."

Thomas smiles in return, picking Simon up in his arms as he stands up. “Good idea.” He looks around. “Where’d Karlie go?”

Kane walks up, carrying the small sleeping child in his arms, and smiles. "She's right here. She's quite sleepy; she's had a very exciting day."

Chuckling, Thomas brushes the hair on Simon’s head back. “He has too, apparently. I think we all have.”

Bree holds Amy's hand, leaning her back against Harrison's chest as she holds her trophy and smiles, letting them lead the way out.


End file.
